Tani Earns His Second IM Norm!
FM Tani Adewumi has earned his second IM Norm, coming one step closer to becoming an international master! Tani, aged 11, needs three norms in order to earn the IM title, which is one step before his ultimate goal: grandmaster status.The Tani Time and Tani vs. The World star won the New York Summer Invitational IM C tournament, finishing in first place as the only undefeated player in the field. Scoring 7.0 out of a possible 9 points, this ChessKid hero actually defeated two IMs on his way to winning the tournament.
He earned his first IM norm earlier this year, after tying for first place with GM Mark Paragua at the 2022 New York Spring Invitational IM D tournament and gaining 127 rating points (!) in the process.
A very happy Tani displaying his second IM norm. Photo courtesy of Tani's family.
Having achieved both his NM and FM titles in 2021, becoming an IM would bring Tani closer than ever to becoming a grandmaster. Tani has shared that one of his dreams is to become the youngest grandmaster ever, a record currently held by GM Abhimanyu Mishra, who became a GM at 12 years, four months, and 25 days old.
Tani has until January 28, 2023, to break this record. But regardless of whether he becomes a GM by January next year, this young chess prodigy's future is looking bright!
Here are some fun tactics that Tani used to win the tournament and gain his second IM norm. Can you figure them all out?
IM Levy Rozman - FM Tani Adewumi. Black to move.
Tani played the brilliant (double) clearance sacrifice 1...e4! 2. Bxe4 d3! when he now threatens both the bishop on e4 and opens the diagonal leading to a possible mate on b2. Black wins a piece since 3. Bxd3 Bxd3 4. Qxd3 Qxb2#.
FM Tani Adewumi - CM Le Nguyen Khoi Nguyen. White to move.
Tani was back opening more diagonals with 1. Nxc4! Now the thread is a discovered attack like 2. Nb6, so Black captured with 1...dxc4 but then the simple 2. Bf3 trapped the rook on a8 and Black resigned.
If you thought some of those tactics were tricky, you're right! Tani is a tactical master, and has done thousands and thousands of puzzles to reach this level of insight and quick thinking.
Go try a few puzzles yourself now, or watch this video on how to improve your deep calculation for longer tactics, and maybe you'll be following in his footsteps soon enough.
Make sure you tune in to the next episode of Tani Time! On Monday the 18th at 12 pm Eastern Time at twitch.tv/chesskid, Tani will go over some of his games and explain how he won.