CHESS CHAMP

At just 11 years old this young progidy has changed his family’s fortunes

- DENNIS CAVERNELIS

HE WAS just eight years old when he won his first championship title and the trophy he received was almost as big as he was.

Bursting with excitement, Tani Adewumi hurried to the homeless shelter where he lived with his family to show off his prize. It was the first of many awards and accomplishments for the young chess prodigy – and his prowess has helped change the course of his and his family’s life.

Tani (now 11) is a US national grandmaster and on track to become the world’s youngest grandmaster if he can beat the record set by another child prodigy, Abhimanyu Mishra, who became a grandmaster at the age of 12.

Grandmaster is a title awarded to chess players by the international chess organisation Fide and is the highest title a player can achieve.