Chess world shaken by biggest scandal since anal beads allegations

The chess world is once again in uproar over allegations involving players’ bums. Yes, really.

The international chess world was rocked after grandmaster Hans Niemann was accused of using vibrating anal beads to cheat during a critical match – although he has since been cleared of the allegations.

But now a Chinese chess player has been accused of cheating using the same technique.

Xiangqi, also known as Chinese chess, is hugely popular across Asia and has been for hundreds of years.

Earlier this month, 48-year-old Yan Chenglong beat dozens of competitors at a national tournament hosted by the Chinese Xiangqi Association (CXA) to win the title of ‘Xiangqi King’.

But his time with the title was short lived, because shortly afterwards the association announced Yan’s title would be revoked and his prize money confiscated.

He was caught ‘disrupting public order’ and displaying ‘extremely bad character’- and it’s been alleged his victory celebration ended with him defecating in a hotel bath.

The ‘Xiangqi King’ had his title and prize money confiscated after the match

Yan Chenglong was pictured with his winning certificate shortly before the scandal erupted

The CXA also had to address rumours circulating on Chinese social media site Weibo, which alleged that Yan had also cheated using anal beads 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.

But in a statement the CXA told The Guardian: ‘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.

‘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.’

The amount of prize money won is not known, but the tournaments often promise prizes of tens of thousands of yuan, equivalent to thousands of dollars.

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A Chinese chess player has now been accused of cheating using the same technique.