Tunde Onakoya launches Lagos International Chess Festival
Tunde Onakoya launches Lagos International Chess Festival
Tunde Onakoya, the chess master, has launched the Lagos International Chess Festival, with its inaugural edition scheduled for October 2027.
The festival was announced on Saturday at an event at the Mikano Motors showroom in Lagos, marking Onakoya’s birthday.
According to Onakoya, the festival will combine chess, art, and cultural experiences, aiming to position Lagos as an international destination for chess enthusiasts.
“This is the starting point, the visual reality of the first edition,” he said.
“I’m excited, a bit nervous and very curious, but I know that, like everything else we’ve done, we have to have faith in our ideas.”
The festival is expected to feature a chess and art exhibition, a large-scale children’s tournament, grandmaster matches and a celebrity chess competition.
Other activities include a chess and fashion event, a celebration of Lagos and a chess game on a boat.
“Chess has given me a way to find my place in the world, and I want to share that. It is a beautiful game, and it has the power to bring people together,” he said.
The festival’s logo combines the Eyo masquerade, a symbol of Lagos culture, with the chess rook. Its colours are designed to reflect the vibrancy of the city.
Representatives of Mikano, Landmark Africa Group, Lufthansa, Hennessy, The Plug Global Agency and Chess in Slums Africa attended the unveiling.
Onakoya is the founder of Chess in Slums Africa, a non-profit organisation that uses chess to provide educational opportunities for children from disadvantaged communities.
He gained global recognition in 2024 after setting a Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.
The feat took place in New York, where he and Puerto Rican chess master Shawn Martinez played for over 61 hours, surpassing the previous record of 61 hours, 3 minutes, and 34 seconds, set by Norwegian players Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad in June 2024.
The marathon, which ran from April 17 to 20 in Times Square, was initially targeted at 70 hours but concluded after they secured the record.
