‘Homeless’ chess genius now a National Chess Master at the age of 10

Tanitoluwa Adewumi, the young New Yorker of Nigerian descent who came into national and international prominence about two years ago after he was discovered as a homeless chess genius, is now reportedly a United States National Chess Master.

The prodigy is still only 10-years-old and a fifth-grader. Adewumi’s new status was reported by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, one of Adewumi’s earliest media hype men. He also reiterated that the former Nigerian refugee still has a roof over his head as well.

According to the website of the body that oversees chess competitions in the US, the United States Chess Federation, the national master title is given “to any player who reaches a rating of 2200. Less than one percent of rated players hold the title. An Original Life Master is a National Master who has played 300 games with a rating [of] over 2200” points accrued from games.

The average age of a US National Chess Master has actually decreased over the decades even though Adewumi is thought to be one of a kind. For those born after 1990, the average US National Chess Master is around 19 years old. Adewumi was born in 2010.

There are growing expectations among those in the chess-playing community that Adewumi could be a Grandmaster (player with 2500 points) before he turns 21. Such has been the meteoric rise of the young boy since 2019.

In late 2019, it was reported that Paramount Pictures have secured the rights to the project around the boy whose family relocated from Nigeria to the States as refugees. Daily Show host, Trevor Noah, is set to produce the biopic.

A film project is not the only thing Adewumi and his family will have about their life. A three-part book is set to be released by W Publishing in 2020 about the travails of the family that had to escape the violence of the terrorist group, Boko Haram.

The film will be sourced from the books. However, on his part, Noah has yet to comment on his role as a producer through his company, Day Zero Productions.