Tunde Onakoya, the founder of Chess in Slums Africa, has added another milestone to his career by becoming the first Nigerian to engage in a high-profile chess exhibition at the Duolingo headquarters in New York.

The event, which saw Onakoya face off against the language-learning giant’s iconic mascot in a symbolic battle of wits, was about more than just the game. Standing beside the grandmaster were five children from the underserved communities of Lagos, whom Onakoya flew to the United States to serve as the primary “test pilots” for a new mobile chess application.

The visit represents the latest chapter in Onakoya’s “One Board, One Million Dreams” initiative. For the five children, many of whom had never left their local neighborhoods before this journey, the trip to Manhattan offered a firsthand look at the global tech industry.

Onakoya’s presence in New York follows his record-breaking 64-hour Guinness World Record chess marathon in Times Square in April 2025. That feat, which ended at the symbolic number of 64 hours, one for each square on a chessboard, raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the education of marginalized children across Africa.

The collaboration with global brands like Duolingo signals a shift in Onakoya’s strategy, moving from pure street-level activism to institutional partnerships that leverage technology for social mobility. By involving “slum-born” children in the development and testing of digital tools, Onakoya is effectively bridging the gap between Lagos’s most vulnerable populations and Silicon Valley’s innovation.

The Chess in Slums team is expected to continue their U.S. tour with several more stops at educational and technological hubs, further cementing Onakoya’s reputation as a “veteran of the board” and a pioneer of social engineering.