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Posted: 2024-04-20T03:51:27Z | Updated: 2024-04-20T03:51:27Z

NEW YORK (AP) A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate has played chess nonstop for 58 hours in New York Citys Times Square to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.

Tunde Onakoya, 29, hopes to raise $1 million for childrens education across Africa through the record attempt that began on Wednesday.

He crossed the 58-hour mark at about 02:30 a.m. GMT Saturday, surpassing the current chess marathon record of 56 hours, 9 minutes and 37 seconds, achieved in 2018 by Hallvard Haug Flateb and Sjur Ferkingstad, both from Norway.

The Guinness World Record organization has yet to publicly comment about Onakoyas attempt. It sometimes takes weeks for the organization to confirm any new record.

Onakoya played against Shawn Martinez, an American chess champion, in line with Guinness World Record guidelines that any attempt to break the record must be made by two players who would play continuously for the entire duration.