Chess champion stripped of title after doing a poo in a hotel bathtub

A Chinese chess champion has had his championship credentials stripped from him amid an anal bead cheating scandal and claims that wild celebrations saw him defecate in a hotel bathtub.

48-year-old Yan Chenglong beat dozens of other chess players who play the Chinese version of the game called 'Xiangqi' last week to claim the title of 'Xiangqi Kin' in a tournament held by the Chinese Xiangqi Association.

However, things soon turned sour or should we say smelly, for Yan when his title was revoked on Monday by the CXA on the grounds that he had displayed an "extremely bad character" and was "disrupting public order."

A statement from the association said that: "Yan consumed alcohol with others in his room on the night of the 17th, and then he defecated in the bathtub of the room he was staying in on the 18th, in an act that damaged hotel property, violated public order and good morals, had a negative impact on the competition and the event of Xiangqi, and was of extremely bad character."

Yan also had his prize money taken away from him. It was not disclosed how much Yan won but according to the Guardian, the winners of these tournaments often pocket tens of thousands of Chinese yuan.

On top of this Yan has also been accused of using anal beads to cheat during the competition, which allegedly used wireless transmitters to send and receive signals in order to be one step ahead of his opponent.

It is claimed that by rhythmically clenching and unclenching his buttocks Yan was able to communicate with a computer that was able to transmit information back to him via vibrations on what moves to make in order to win.

The accusations were spread on the Chinese social media site Weibo but the CXA has clarified that there was no evidence of cheating. "Based on our understanding of the situation, it is currently impossible to prove that Yan engaged in cheating via ‘anal beads’ as speculated on social media," said the association.

In 2022, the world of chess was rocked by when grandmaster Hans Niemann was accused of a similar method of cheating before being eventually cleared of any wrongdoing in August 2023.

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