Chinese chess champion stripped of title after being accused of defecating in bathtub and cheating

Man claims he suffered from diarrhoea as chess association bans him from participating for a year

A 48-year-old Chinese chess champion has been stripped of his title and had his prize money withdrawn amid allegations of defecating in a bath and cheating by using an anal messaging device.

Yan Chenglong was named “Xiangqi King” and awarded 100,000 yuan ( £11,000) after defeating contenders at a Chinese amateur chess competition final in Hainan Province on 17 December.

The next morning, staff at the hotel where chess players were accommodated, said that Mr Yan had defecated in a hotel bath.

He has been accused of cheating using a communication device similar to anal beads – a claim denied by Mr Yan.

The Chinese Xiangqi Association (CXA) on Monday announced that Mr Yan would be stripped of his title and have his prize money confiscated for “disrupting public order” and displaying “extremely bad character”.

The association said that Mr Yan drank with others on the evening of 17 December and relieved himself in the bath the next morning, according to state media Global Times.

His behaviour “damaged the hotel’s property, violated the public order and good customs and caused a negative impact on Chinese chess”, CXA said.

The CXA had published a social media post last week congratulating Mr Yan and other players for their “spectacularly heated high-level gameplay”.

Reports on Chinese social media accused Mr Yan of allegedly clenching and unclenching rhythmically to communicate information about the chess board via code to a computer. The device then sent back instructions on what moves to make in the form of vibrations.

Addressing rumours circulating on the internet, the association said it was “impossible” to prove that Mr Yan cheated using anal beads.

He was disqualified from participating in any Chinese chess competition for one year from the date of the punishment decision.

Mr Yan responded to the allegations, saying that he suffered from diarrhoea after drinking alcohol. He said he failed to make it to the toilet in time and couldn’t help but defecate in the bathtub. He denied cheating in the game and added that he had been playing Chinese chess for over 40 years at a high level.