Tunde Onakoya’s 70-hour chess marathon for GWR begins in New York

Tunde Onakoya’s second attempt to break the Guinness World Record (GWR) for the longest chess marathon with 70-hour has started in New York.

The GWR attempt commenced on Thursday at Times Square, New York City, as the Nigerian chess champion and founder of Chess in Slums Africa looks to break a 61-hour marathon.

Recall that in April 2024, Onakoya completed a 60-hour chess marathon, playing alongside US chess master Shawn Martinez.

That feat surpassed the previous 56-hour record held by Norwegians Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad, set in 2018.

However, Onakoya’s 60-hour record was eclipsed just two months later in June 2024 when two other Norwegian players achieved a 61-hour marathon.

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On his second attempt, Onakoya aims to play several chess games for 70 hours without losing a single game. He is only allowed five-minute breaks every hour during the course of the attempt.

Announcing the commencement of his second attempt in an X post, Onakoya shared a video of the countdown leading to his world record attempt as he was surrounded by fans cheering him on.

Last week when Onakoya announced he would be attempting the GWR, he disclosed that his motivation to break the record is to raise support for building free schools for homeless children in Nigeria.

He said, “My dream is to inspire the world, and raise support to build the biggest free school for homeless children in Nigeria.”

He added that he will be joined by five children from Chess in Slums Africa, who “have shown all of us that it is possible to do great things from a small place”.

"They will only join in for a few hours. This is an open call to every chess player in New York City to come and challenge them,” he added.

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