Xiangqi champion loses title over allegations he used anal beads to cheat and defecated in bathtub

China’s national Xiangqi champion has been stripped of his title over allegations he used anal beads to cheat and celebrated his sham victory by defecating in a bathtub.

Yan Chenglong, 48, beat dozens of contenders to become “Xiangqi King” at a tournament on December 17.

Xiangqi is a strategy game which is in the same family of games as chess and is the most successful board game in China, being played by hundreds of millions people.

But his joy was short-lived after the sport’s governing body, the Chinese Xiangqi Association (CXA), on Monday announced Yan would have his title revoked and prize money confiscated due to inappropriate celebrations.

“Yan consumed alcohol with others in his [hotel] room on the night of the 17th, and then he defecated in the bathtub of the room he was staying in on the 18th,” the association said in a statement.

It added his behaviour had “damaged hotel property, violated public order and good morals, [and] had a negative impact on the competition and the event of Xiangqi”, describing his actions as “of extremely bad character”.

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

“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,” the CXA said.

Banned from competing

The association said it had stripped Yan of his 100,000-yuan (about £11,000) award and banned him from participating in Xiangqi competitions for the next year over his actions.

But Yan has denied any wrongdoing, telling local media that he was suffering from diarrhoea on the night of December 17 and the morning of December 18 and had been forced to defecate in the bathtub because he couldn’t reach the hotel room’s toilet in time.

He added that he was feeling happy on the night of December 17 and drank too much, which made him feel sick.

“Of course, it was very wrong for me to have diarrhea in the bathtub,” Yan said.

He also denied using anal beads to cheat, calling the claim “nonsense”.

“I’ve been playing chess for more than 40 years, I like it. People who know me know I can’t cheat, and I don’t need to cheat,” Yan said.

His remarks led to uproar among fellow competitors, with some referring to the extraordinary episode as the “bathtub door” incident in messenger app group chats that were screenshotted and circulated online.

According to Chinese media reports, Yan has been a talented Xiangqi player since childhood and has won several competitions throughout his more than three-decade career.

He currently works in a government department in the central Henan province.

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

It included a photo of Yan on stage, flanked by two runners-up, proudly holding up his prize certificate.

Sordid scandals

The scandal does not mark the first time a chess champion has allegedly used a sex toy to cheat their way to victory.

Last year, American grandmaster Hans Niemann was accused of relying on anal beads which vibrated to inform his moves in order to beat the then-world champion Magnus Carlsen at the prestigious Sinquefield Cup tournament in St. Louis, Missouri.

Mr Carlsen, considered by many to be the greatest player of all time, withdrew from the tournament in the wake of his defeat and later claimed Mr Niemann had cheated.

The American denied the allegation, which sparked a legal row that the pair eventually resolved via an out-of-court settlement.

Mr Nieman, 20, has admitted to cheating while playing online when he was younger but claims to have never done so while contesting in-person games.