Nigerian chess master, Tunde Onakoya, has been given a royal welcome by his countrymen after surpassing the previous Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.
The founder of Chess In Slums Africa reached 60 hours of playtime on Saturday, at the iconic Times Square in New York, USA, making him the new record holder waiting to be confirmed by GWR.
A video making the rounds on the internet showed a cultural troupe serenading Tunde when he arrived at the international airport in Lagos state.
They handed him a bouquet of flowers and he was heralded with singing and dancing by the music band while airport workers as well as flight crew watched and filmed in amazement.
See video below:
Meanwhile, Tunde had celebrated via his Twitter page on Saturday and explained that he embarked on it to enable him to accomplish the fundraising goal for the education of underprivileged African children around the world.
The previous record of 56 hours and 9 minutes was set by Norwegian players, but Tunde beat it on Saturday, April 20 at the iconic Times Square in New York.
Sharing an image on his page, Onakoya wrote; “WE HAVE DONE IT. #LongestChessMarathon #58Hours #RecordBroken #NewRecordSet”
He added; “We’re pushing to 60 hours guys. We’re not stopping yet. Let’s keep going. We have a fundraising goal to meet for the education of African children around the world.
This is our why – the reason we are doing this. Let’s demonstrate to the world the incredible power of love. Together, we can make this happen.”
