CNN reported that on April 20, Nigerian chess champion Tunde Onakoya and American coach Shawn Martinez set a world record for the longest chess game.
The previous record belonged to two Norwegian grandmasters, Hallvard Haug Flatebøand Sjur Ferkingstad, who played a game for 56 hours, 9 minutes, and 37 seconds in 2018. Initially, the game between Martinez and Onakoya was supposed to last 58 hours, but it eventually exceeded 60 hours. Representatives of the Guinness Book of World Records have not yet commented on the achievement.
The chess marathon took place in Times Square in New York and was broadcasted via a live link in Lagos, Nigeria's largest city. The match was part of a charity campaign by the organization Chess in Slums Africa, aimed at helping economically disadvantaged children in Africa get access to education. Approximately $22,000 was raised within the first 20 hours of the game.