Chess Marathon: Tunde Onakoya approaches 40 hours, over $40K raised

The founder of Chess in Slum Initiative Africa, Tunde Onakoya approaches 40 hour mark in his Guinness World Record attempt for the longest chess marathon.

Tunde who began his record-breaking attempt on Wednesday, April 17 has triumphed over all opponents, including defeating New York’s National Chess Master, Shawn Martinez.

His ongoing 58-hour chess marathon in Times Square, New York City is currently at 38.02 hours and about $40,625 (a rough estimate of 46,762,625 in the Nigerian currency) raised so far.

Tunde Onakoya on his last update on his X platform confirmed his number of games, marking his 100th game, 87 against New York’s Shawn Martinez and 13 with other random players.

“Game number 100. ♟️ 87 against my main opponent @CoachShawnMar. 13 against external challengers. We are now 31 hours in, with 27 to go! That puts us officially past the halfway mark. It’s looking possible now. 💪🏾 Keep streaming, keep donating,” he wrote.

It is worth noting that Tunde’s goal is to hit 58 hours chess marathon and the Guinness will determine the assessment of the match before declaring him the record holder.