He played four rounds before being caught. (Representative)
Nairobi, Kenya:
A young man wearing a mask and glasses played four rounds of the Nairobi Women’s Chess Open before being exposed.
“I don’t think anywhere in the world this has happened,” said John Mukabi, secretary general of the Kenyan Chess Federation.
Mukabi said that after the cheater was exposed she explained that she did it because she had a better chance of winning the prize money of the women’s competition.
The 31st Kenya Open, an international chess competition in Nairobi from 6–10 April, attracted 445 participants with 84 entries in the women’s tournament.
A veiled player, silent and elusive, attracted increasing suspicion as the rounds progressed.
“The first sign that something was wrong was when I went with a photographer to take pictures of the competition,” Mukabi told AFP on Sunday.
“When we went back to the computer to put in the name, the name was Millicent Hour. We were expecting a Muslim name. It was a bit strange but it is possible that there are people with Christian names who are Muslim.”
He said that the match officials are also getting suspicious.
“The moderators also noticed something: after the games, this person disappears and comes back within minutes of the start of the next round,” Mukabi said.
“One also noticed that the shoulders looked more male than female … Even the rubber boots she was wearing were mostly associated with men.”
The mystery contestant was also getting good results.
“The other thing is that she beat a very experienced woman who had competed six times in the World Chess Olympiad for Kenya,” Mukabi said.
After the fourth round, the officials made their move. It was checkmate in one.
“After that game, the umpires took her aside and a female umpire accompanied her to the washroom where she was asked to remove her hijab. Upon reaching there, she immediately admitted that she was a man. She was taken back and Score reversed.”
“He said that financial problems prompted him to do this,” Mukabi said. “In the men’s section, they didn’t have a chance at all, we had Grand Masters, International Masters…”
The youth, who is a student at the University of Nairobi, is due to appear before the Kenyan Chess Federation’s disciplinary committee next week. He faces a suspension of several years.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)