Tunde Onakoya has been recognized and certified by Guinness World Records (GWR) for setting a new chess marathon record of 64 hours.
Onakoya, with his chess partner Shawn Martinez from Puerto Rico, went beyond the previous record of 61 hours, 3 minutes, and 34 seconds, held by Norwegian players Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad since June 2024.
The non-stop chess marathon started on April 17 and concluded on April 20 in New York’s Times Square, after originally eyeing a 70-hour session.
To celebrate his feat on social media, the founder of Chess in Slums Africa shared photos of the historic achievement
“We did the impossible and gave the world something new to believe in. Official record holders of the Longest Chess Marathon for 64 hours. We did it,” he captioned the post.
“The longest chess marathon was achieved by Tunde Onakoya (Nigeria) and Shawn Martinez (Puerto Rico) in Times Square, New York, USA, from 17 to 20 April 2025,” the certificate reads.
And this is nott Onakoya’s first attempt; he first completed a 60-hour chess marathon in April 2024.
The achievement was more than the 56-hour set in 2018 by Norwegians Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad.
Unfortunately, the record wasn’t officially recognized at the time by Guinness.
The Nigerian chess master had in a past interview said that he grew up in the slums and that playing chess gave him the opportunity to discover his potential.
