NEW YORK (NEWSnet/AP) — A Nigerian chess champion and child education advocate played chess nonstop for 60 hours in New York City’s Times Square, to break the Guinness World Record.

Tunde Onakoya, 29, hopes to raise $1 million for children's education in Africa through the record attempt, which began April 17.

He had planned to play for 58 hours, then continued until he reached 60 hours at about 12:40 a.m. Saturday. It surpasses the chess marathon record of 56 hours, 9 minutes and 37 seconds, set in 2018 by Norwegians Hallvard Haug Flatebø and Sjur Ferkingstad.

Guinness World Record organization has not publicly commented about Onakoya’s attempt. It sometimes takes weeks for the organization to confirm a new record.

Onakoya played against Shawn Martinez, a U.S. chess champion.

The record attempt is “for the dreams of millions of children across Africa without access to education,” said Onakoya, who founded Chess in Slums Africa in 2018. The organization wants to support the education of at least 1 million children throughout the continent.

For every hour of game played, Onakoya and his opponent got only five minutes' break.

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