Tanitoluwa Adewumi  Tanitoluwa Emmanuel Adewumi (born September 3, 2010) is a Nigerian-born chess player who lives in New York City, USA. He won the 2019 K-3 New York State chess championship at the age of eight, after playing the game for only a year, while living with his refugee family in a homeless shelter in Manhattan. Tanitoluwa is the son of Kayode James Adewumi (born June 24, 1976, Ado Ekiti, Nigeria) and Oluwatoyin Kuburat Adewumi (born June 16, 1981, Ado Ekiti). He has a brother, Adesina Austin, who is seven years older. Kayode used to run a print shop in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, with 13 employees, and Oluwatoyin used to work as an accountant. The family is devoutly Christian, and were threatened with violence by the Islamist terrorist organization Boko Haram. In June 2017, they left Nigeria for the United States and sought religious asylum. Philip Falayi, a pastor in Queens, New York, gave them temporary accommodation, and connected them with the New York City Department of Homeless Services. They were given a place to stay in a homeless shelter in Manhattan. Kayode took work as a dishwasher and as an Uber driver in a rented car, and Oluwatoyin as a and Tanitoluwa enrolled in . Austin had taught Tanitoluwa a chess-like game called "Latter", using a homemade board and pieces made from Play-Doh. Shawn Martinez, a teacher at P.S. 116, is a chess enthusiast who introduces students to the game. Tanitoluwa immediately took to it, and wanted to join a club run by Russell Makofsky, another teacher. That would have been expensive; the $330 fee includes not only the cost of running the club, but also such things as entries to tournaments, travel, and accommodation. When Adewumi's mother told Makofsky of the family's financial situation, he waived the fee. In early 2018, Adewumi, who had the lowest Elo rating of 105, played in his first tournament. A year later, he had accumulated seven trophies. The teachers, now his coaches, were impressed by his dedication and hard work, and by the progress he had made since starting as a novice. On March 9–10, 2019, he competed in the 52nd Annual New York State Scholastic Championships (kindergarten-3rd grade division) in Saratoga Springs, New York.