Nigerian chess champion sets new record playing 58 hours straight [Video]

NEW YORK — A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate has played chess nonstop for 58 hours in New York City’s Times Square to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.

Tunde Onakoya, 29, hopes to raise $1 million for children’s education across Africa through the record attempt that began on Wednesday.

He crossed the 58-hour mark at about 02:30 a.m. GMT Saturday, surpassing the current chess marathon record of 56 hours, 9 minutes and 37 seconds, achieved in 2018 by Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad, both from Norway.

The Guinness World Record organization has yet to publicly comment about Onakoya’s attempt. It sometimes takes weeks for the organization to confirm any new record.

Onakoya played against Shawn Martinez, an American chess champion, in line with Guinness World Record …