Tanitoluwa Emmanuel Adewumi, nicknamed "Tani," was born in Nigeria. In June 2017, he and his family immigrated to the United States, where they first lived in a homeless shelter in Manhattan. He played in his first chess tournament in early 2018. In March 2019, he won the New York State Scholastic Championship (Kindergarten-3rd grade division), scoring 5.5/6.
The story of his winning the New York Scholastics was reported by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times, and rapidly attracted national and international attention both inside and outside the chess world. A GoFundMe site set up by his coaches raised $254,000 for his family in ten days.
On May 1, 2021, at age 10, he became a USCF National Master, making him the 28th-youngest player to do so. In August, he won the under-12 division of the North American Youth Chess Championship, scoring 8/9. In November 2021, he became a FIDE Master.
In April 2022, he scored 7/9 in the New York Spring Invitational Norm event, achieving his first IM norm. In July 2022, he won the IM C event in the New York Summer Invitational with a 7/9 score, and earning his second IM norm. He got his third IM norm at the New York GM/IM Fall Invitational.
Tani hopes to become the youngest grandmaster ever. Three film companies bid on the rights to his story, with Paramount Pictures winning. A biography, My Name Is Tani, was published on April 14, 2020.
Wikipedia article: Tanitoluwa Adewumi
Kibitzing
