Sometimes we need a break from all of the division and politics that infects every inch of our society nowadays.

We need to take little moments to reflect on the good news and good things that are still going on in the world every day.

This one hits close to me because I share a passion for it as well.

Tanitoluwa Adewumi is a 10-year-old chess genius. At such a young age, he has already become a National Master in chess and has a rating of 2223.

For those of you who aren’t as familiar with chess, a 2223 is a very high rating. I’ve been playing and studying chess for years. I’m a very good player and my rating is still under 1700. To put that into perspective, I can beat everyone I personally know and I’ve even had lessons under a FIDE master who has an online chess rating of 2700, though his official FIDE rating is around 2200. The difference is mostly because of the number of games played online can and does far exceed what can be played in person.

Adewumi, or as people like to call him, Tani, is hoping to become the youngest chess Grandmaster in history.

What makes this story really spectacular is that just 2 years ago, Tani was homeless and living in a homeless shelter.

Tani used to practice for the chess championship at the homeless shelter where he would also sleep on the floor. Once word got out about this amazing young boy, a GoFundMe page was set up which raised more than $250,000 for the young boy and his family to help get them out of the shelter and into a home of their very own.

But they don’t plan on spending the money frivolously. They will take out a 10 percent tithe and donate it to their church, which helped them while they were homeless, and the rest will be channeled through a new Tanitoluwa Adewumi Foundation to help African immigrants who are struggling in the United States the way they were a week ago.

“Anybody who is coming from Africa who is in the position we were in, we will help them,” Mr. Adewumi said, acknowledging that details need to be worked out.

I asked them how they could turn down every penny of such a huge sum. Didn’t they want a celebration dinner? New iPhones? A vacation?

“I’m a hardworking guy,” Mr. Adewumi explained. He has two jobs: He drives for Uber with a rented car and sells real estate through Brick & Mortar. Someone has now offered him a free car so that he can keep more of the money he makes driving, and Tani’s mom was just offered a job as a health care aide at a hospital.

Sources:
NY Times