The city of Lagos was lit with excitement on Wednesday, as Nigerian chess champion, Tunde Onakoya, returned home.
Tunde Onakoya broke the world record for the longest chess marathon after playing unbeaten for 60 hours in New York City’s Times Square.
Tunde, who announced his homecoming, received a warm welcome from family, friends, and Lagosians, including the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwoolu.
Although Tunde was not feeling well enough to grant interviews, iBrand Digital correspondents had a discussion with his mother in Yoruba.
Tunde’s mother couldn’t conceal her excitement while speaking with us.
She revealed that Tunde had always been a chess master and won every chess competition since his primary school days up until now.
The chess master broke the record with the intention of raising money for underprivileged children in Nigeria.
Tunde, who set out to play for 58 hours, started on Wednesday but continued till about 12:40 a.m. (04:40 GMT) on Saturday, reaching 60 hours.
His attempt surpassed the current chess marathon record of 56 hours, 9 minutes, and 37 seconds, achieved in 2018 by Norwegians Hallvard Haug Flatebo and Sjur Ferkingstad.
Also Read:Tunde Onakoya: How Chess Hero Returned To Lagos
However, The Guinness World Records organisation is yet to publicly comment about Onakoya’s attempt.
It sometimes takes weeks for the organisation to confirm any new records.
See What his mother said in the video below.
