Cadet Champ Tani Adewumi strong at World Open
Tanitoluwa “Tani” Adewumi finished a strong performance at the 2025 World Open after winning the Cadet Championship a couple of weeks earlier. It was his second consecutive title, only months after finishing the rating requirements for the IM title. So far, 2025 has been a great year.
 | # | Player | ELO | Nation | Flag |
Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vishva Nanugonda | 2075 | USA |  |
1 |
2 | FM Narayan Venkatesh | 2185 | USA | |
1 |
| 3 | Brian Tay | 2020 | USA | |
1 |
| 4 | GM Viktor Matviishen | 2540 | Ukraine |  |
0 |
| 5 | FM Lucas Jiang | 2228 | USA | |
1 |
| 6 | GM Brewington Hardaway | 2498 | USA | |
½ |
| 7 | GM Luka Budisavljevic | 2509 | Serbia |  |
½ |
| 8 | GM Andy Woodward | 2567 | USA | |
1 |
| 9 | IM Jason Liang | 2397 | USA | |
½ |
Tani’s story is well-known when, as an 8-year-old, he became a viral sensation winning a grade school championship while living in a homeless shelter. Since then, he has been very visible in the media, particularly participating in fun online competitions like chess.com’s Puzzle Rush and locking horns with Alexandra Botez.
I held onto my first place at the 2025 Cadet Championship in Chicago. So grateful—God is great! pic.twitter.com/wiKIQYhepU
— Tanitoluwa Adewumi (@TaniAdewumi) June 26, 2025
It has been an incredible ride for the 14-year-old who has kept a busy schedule in seeking GM norm opportunities. He played in the Philadelphia Open and scored a respectable 6.5/9 beating Peruvian Grandmaster Emilio Cordova in the last round.
World Open
He repeated this +4 score at the World Open and earned yet another IM norm. Tani already had four IM norms and this would be his second in an open tournament. Apart from his loss to Ukrainian Grandmaster Viktor Matviishen, he had a key win over GM Andy Woodward and draws with GMs Brewington Hardaway and Luka Budisavljevic. Perhaps another half-point would have put him in conversation for his first GM norm.
On To Biel Masters!
When Tani clinched his IM title back in May, he had an interview with Mike Klein, and he made a statement that future title aspirants should heed. Klein asked him about his thoughts on clinching the 2400 Elo. He gave a principled answer, which was that he was not focused on the rating but was still pursuing the GM norm.
The key point of this is that when you are pursuing titles, do not think of the Elo points during the tournament. This increases pressure and may affect decisions one makes during a game. This is a mistake made often by players trying to gain Elo for the FIDE rating requirement.
Photo by Michal Walusza
In fact, Tani follows the top tournaments and has rubbed shoulders with some of the greats. He will get a chance to vie for a GM norm in Biel, Switzerland, starting in a couple of days. He will play in the Master Tournament with a very diverse field. This will be his first overseas tournament and will prove to be a great test.
