Behind every good story is a teacher

Tanitoluwa Adewumi and his family won’t be homeless much longer now that the New York Times has publicized his achievement: At age 8, he’s just won his division in the New York State chess championship, and he intends to become the youngest grandmaster ever.

A GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the family has blown through its $50,000 goal in just two days.

His family fled to the United States from Nigeria in 2017.

And he only learned chess a year ago.

So in many ways, while his story is heartwarming and shows the value of perseverance and opportunity, a hero in it isn’t being properly recognized: the teacher who taught him to play chess.