Chess master plays for 60 hours straight in record-shattering Times Square stream

Tunde Onakoya, a Nigerian Chess Master, broke the record for the longest chess marathon after playing the tabletop game for 60 hours straight in Times Square and has raised thousands for charity.

Onakoya played for over two days in the heart of New York and live streamed the entire endeavor. The challenge started on April 17 and ended after he beat the previous record, set by Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad in 2018, by about four hours.

The Nigerian master played against US chess champion and New York native Shawn Martinez the entire time. The two were allowed to take breaks after every hour played, for about five minutes, to rest and talk with the crowds of people that gathered around them.

Onakoya is an ambassador for the game in Nigeria. He founded Chess in Slums Africa in 2018 and set his charity goal for the record-breaking chess marathon at $1 million for children’s education in Africa. The chess master has organized hundreds of competitions across Africa to boost his cause and the game’s prevalence on the continent.

While the stream and marathon did not reach the $1 million goal, it did bring in thousands of dollars for the cause.

Guinness World Records has not yet publically recognized the marathon at the time of writing. The record-breaking marathon did however receive a ton of media coverage from international and New York outlets.

Afterward, Onakoya revealed that he had a bout of food poisoning during the marathon and could only drink water for much of 60 hours. He posted a photo on social media of his first meal post-marathon, Jollof rice.