Nigerian chess master and founder of Chess in Slums Africa, Tunde Onakoya, has revealed the reason Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka gave for stepping away from the game of chess.

Onakoya shared details of their brief meeting in an Instagram post on Monday, describing it as “one picture I’ll definitely be framing.”

The encounter, which took place on a field, featured the 30-year-old bowing in respect to the 90-year-old professor, who was seated.

“Met one of my heroes today—Professor Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate, literary giant, and one of the greatest Nigerians to ever walk this earth,” Onakoya wrote.
According to him, their exchange was short but memorable.

He asked Soyinka if he still played chess. The playwright smiled and replied, “Yes… but I had to stop myself. There isn’t enough time in the world for chess.”

Onakoya then requested a final game with the respected elder, but Soyinka gracefully declined.

“He told me to instead invite him to an occasion of me playing someone else, and he’ll be glad to come watch,” Onakoya added.