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Chinese chess cheating scandal: Top grandmasters banned, triggered by life-time ban of ‘China’s Magnus Carlsen’

Jan 18, 2025 02:32 PM IST

The public got to know about the cheating scandal in September when the CXA issued its life-time bans on Wang Yuefei and Wang Tianyi.

A massive cheating scandal has emerged in China as the Chinese Xiangqi Association (CXA) penalised 41 players, including lifetime bans on three players. The players who have received life-time bans include grandmasters Zhao Xinxin, Wang Yang and Zheng Weitong. Their technical titles have also been taken away.

Wang Tianyi has already received a life-time ban.
Wang Tianyi has already received a life-time ban.

The CXA announced that Zhao and 40 other players took part in illegal activities, including bribery and match-fixing.

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Gai Hongyan, Deputy Director of Administrative Center and Disciplinary Committee, said, “For over a decade, such illegal activities have been hampering the healthy development of the sport, resulting in the manipulation of match results, the unfair distribution of prize money, and control of player promotions.”

Xiangqi, commonly known as Chinese chess, is a strategy board game for two players. It is a game where both players battle against each other with two armies, and the main objective is to checkmate the enemy’s king. Although xiangqi originated in Asia, there are xiangqi leagues and clubs all over the world.

The ‘Magnus Carlsen of Chinese chess’ receives life-time ban

The public got to know about the cheating scandal in September when the CXA issued its life-time bans on Wang Yuefei and Wang Tianyi. Tianyi is considered to be the Magnus Carlsen of Xiangqi, is a four-time national champion and three-time world champion.

The duo fell under the spotlight when some audio clips were leaked online, now called ‘Recording Gate’. In the leaks, there were discussions between Yuefei and another player Hao Jichao, about match-fixing. In one of the recordings, Yufei also warns Hao never to reveal Tianyi’s name.

The CXA investigation also revealed that Tianyi accepted bribes totally approximately 110,000 dollars to fix games.

Ca Yi, a former Chinese chess player, said, “The huge temptation of benefit for a high-ranking player to maintain his place and for a lower-ranked player to earn more money was too big to refuse sometimes in a game, especially between commercial clubs.”

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Stay updated with the latest sports news, including latest headlines and updates from the Olympics 2024, where Indian athletes will compete for glory in Paris. Catch all the action from tennis Grand Slam tournaments, follow your favourite football teams and players with the latest match results, and get the latest on international hockey tournaments and series.
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