Photo: Sina Weibo

A chess champion from Central China’s Henan Province has been stripped of his champion title and had his prize money withdrawn after he allegedly excreted in the hotel bathtub for getting rid of a cheating device which caused a social uproar. 

The 48-year-old Xiangqi, or Chinese chess player named Yan Chenglong won the national Chinese chess amateur competition final in Lingshui, South China’s Hainan Province on December 17. He was awarded 100,000 yuan ($13,997) in prize money. 

The next morning when he checked out the hotel where the Chinese chess players were accommodated, a hotel employee found the bathtub in Yan’s hotel room was contaminated with excrement. 

The incident soon stirred heated discussion on the internet and aroused a speculation that Yan might have used a kind of cheating device which was inserted in his body to cheat in the Chinese chess game. After the game, he had to excrete that device from his body leading him to defecate in the bathtub instead of in the toilet. 

The Chinese Xiangqi Association responded to this incident and announced its decision to strip Yan of his title on Monday. 

According to the association, Yan drank with others on the evening of December 17 and excreted in the bathtub on December 18. His behavior damaged the hotel’s property, violated the public order and good customs and caused a negative impact on Chinese chess. However, based on current evidence, it cannot be verified that Yan engaged in cheating. 

According to the discipline code and punishment of the Chinese Xiangqi Association, all the prizes and titles Yan obtained at the game were revoked and his prize money will not be paid. Yan was also disqualified from participating in any Chinese chess competition for one year from the date of the punishment decision. 

According to media reports, it was not the first time that Yan won a champion in a Chinese chess amateur competition. Yan also won the champion for men in an opentournament of the Chinese chess in the 14th National Games in 2021. 

The advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technology has made it possible to cheat with high-tech in the chess games. Several cheating scandals have previously been exposed in the circle of chess. Overseas netizens have also speculated about existence of some AI devices that can be kept inside a player’s body to assist with cheating. 

On Tuesday, Yan responded to the incident that he felt uncomfortable after drinking on December 17 and suffered from diarrhea. He failed to make it to the toilet in time and couldn’t help but defecating in the bathtub, Shangyou News reported on Tuesday. 

Yan denied that he cheated in the game and noting that he had been playing the Chinese chess for over 40 years at a high level.

According to media reports, Yan was a born Chinese chess talent and had obtained multiple champions since 1992. In 2007, Yan served as the head coach of the Henan Provincial chess team. Yan currently works at a government department in Xuchang city in Henan. 

Global Times