Nigerian chess master and founder of Chess in Slums Africa, Tunde Onakoya, has officially set a new Guinness World Record (GWR) for the longest chess marathon, achieving an impressive 64 hours of non-stop play.
Naija News reports that Onakoya, alongside his chess partner, Shawn Martinez from Puerto Rico, surpassed the previous record of 61 hours, 3 minutes, and 34 seconds.
The previous record was held by Norwegian players Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad, who set it in June 2024.
The remarkable chess marathon began on April 17, 2025, and concluded on April 20, 2025, in the heart of New York’s Times Square. They were originally aiming for a 70-hour session.
Celebrating the achievement, Onakoya shared photos of the historic moment on social media. “We did the impossible and gave the world something new to believe in,” he wrote in the post. “Official record holders of the Longest Chess Marathon for 64 hours. We did it.”
The GWR certificate, which officially recognised their accomplishment, wrote, “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.”
This marks not Onakoya’s first attempt at the title; he had previously completed a 60-hour chess marathon in April 2024, surpassing the previous 56-hour record set by the same Norwegian players in 2018.
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