The world of competitive chess is certainly no stranger to cheating scandals, and it was rocked by another one this week when a male player posed as a female player in an attempt to win the tournament and collect the cash prize.
It all happened at the Kenya Open Chess Championship when Stanley Omondi, who is a male Kenyan player, wore a hijab and posed as a female player by the name of Millicent Awour. He made his way deep into the tournament before eventually arising suspicion after beating two top female competitors.
“We didn’t have any suspicion at first, because wearing a hijab is normal,” Chess Kenya president Bernard Wanjala told BBC Sport. “But along the way, we noticed he won against very strong players… and it will be unlikely to have a new person who has never played a tournament [being very strong].”
Tournament organizers also became suspicious about Omondi’s shoes and the fact that he never talked during matches.
“One of the red flags we also noticed [was] the shoes, he was wearing more masculine shoes, than feminine,” Wanjala BBC Sport. “We also noticed he was not talking, even when he came to collect his tag, he couldn’t speak, ordinarily, when you are playing, you speak to your opponent… because playing a chess game is not war its friendship.”
He was eventually caught and came clean. And the wild ordeal caused quite a stir on social media.
He said https://t.co/GT7amsxJUk pic.twitter.com/cxRpqelvcQ
— R3HAB (@bwoykym) April 13, 2023
best thing i have read this week 😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/doQOqybuiQ
— Heisenberg (@DrJuma_M) April 14, 2023
They did not see the long tough hands? https://t.co/md5fPkhWws
— MySocialSpace (@MySocialSpaceH) April 14, 2023
He was good at it & fooled staff but his cover was blown when he beat former national champion Gloria Jumba and Ugandan top player Ampaira Shakira, arousing suspicion from other players and the arbiters.
His explanation was he did it to raise his school fees.
— Kenya West (@KinyanBoy) April 13, 2023
Men have higher rankings in chess internationally than women. A chess master can easily beat any top 3 high ranking female grandmaster.
— Keith Ho Ramirez (@KeithHoRamirez) April 13, 2023
🤣🤣🤣🤣i have laughed so hard coz this is not the first time he has done this
— Xp2001 (@Xp20012) April 13, 2023
[BBC]
