Chinese chess champion dethroned

THE 2023 National Chinese Chess King Competition champion Yan Chenglong has been banned for one year, and his championship title and prize money have been revoked due to his inappropriate behavior after the final, which sparked negative public opinion, the Chinese Xiangqi Association announced yesterday.

Yan, a registered athlete of central Henan Province, won the championship at the 2023 National Chinese Chess King

Competition held in Lingshui, southern Hainan Province, from December 15 to 17.

But his joy was short-lived, with the CXA on Monday announcing that Yan would have his title revoked and prize money confiscated after had been caught “disrupting public order” and displaying “extremely bad character.”

After the final, Yan drank with others in a hotel room on December 17. On December 18, he excreted in the bathtub of his hotel room, which damaged the hotel’s public property and violated public order and morals, it added.

The CXA was also forced to address rumors circulating online that Yan had cheated during the competition by using anal beads equipped with wireless transmitters to send and receive signals.

Yan allegedly clenched and unclenched rhythmically to communicate information about the chess board via code to a computer, which then sent back instructions on what moves to make in the form of vibrations, according to reports on Weibo. “Based on our understanding of the situation, it is currently impossible to prove that Yan engaged in cheating via ‘anal beads,’” the CXA said.

However, he was still stripped of his title and banned for a year after his celebrations went wayward.

(Shanghai Daily/AFP)