Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion America's newest chessmaster is 10 yrs old

America's Newest Chess Master is 10-Year-Old Tanitoluwa Adewumi. As newly arrived immigrants to the United States, his family once lived in a homeless shelter. An extreme talent for chess, a Go-Fund-Me, and hours of dedicated practice have provided the fuel to change his life.

Meet America's Newest Chess Master, 10-Year-Old Tanitoluwa Adewumi
by Mary Louise Kelly, Karen Zamora, Amy Isackson
May 11, 2021
NPR

10-y-o Christian refugee is now America’s newest chess master
by Leonardo Blair
May 12, 2021
Christian Post

10-year-old boy who used to be homeless becomes national chess master
Amanda Thomason, The Western Journal
May 14, 2021
World Net Daily (WND)

This reminds me a bit of another child chess champion, Phiona Mutesi, The Queen of Katwe

As a parent of a nationally ranked chess player, these stories always interest me. This young man's rise has been very fast, and particularly so given his circumstances.

Becoming a Chess Master means a rating of 2200+. Given Tanitoluwa's age and the fact that he is likely just now getting access to good coaching, I expect him to reach International Master (2400+ FIDE) without a problem.

Getting to GrandMaster (GM) is much less certain. Every chess player has a limit, and it's not easy to predict what that limit is for a particular player until it is reached. We know many players that were nationally strong when young, hit a wall for a few years, and eventually stopped playing because they couldn't get better. A couple of them were national champions in elementary school but couldn't win their state championship several years later as other players passed them by.

What concerns me is the 10-11 hours a day playing chess, which means that he isn't paying any attention to schoolwork. There are probably less than 50 GM players nationwide who can make a living only playing chess. The strongest woman player, GM Irina Krush has a full-time job because she cannot make a living with only chess. There are perhaps another 200 that can make a living by playing and coaching students like my son.

Sounds very much like Olympians re: income generating potential.


This bit is sad- I’d hope they would continue to play for the love of the game, in whatever category fits. I imagine for the families you describe, mithawk, shame was a key factor in abandoning chess.

There’s so much more to competition than being #1.Hopefully those competitors find their way back to joy in the internal satisfaction of chess. “Failure” at that level still translates into an impressively high standing.