Male Kenyan Chess Player Disguises Himself as a Woman to Compete and Win

• A strange and outrageous incident has brought Kenyan chess into disrepute considering the circumstances involved
• A man was caught pretending to be a woman so that he could participate in a national championship for women
• After being exposed, his excuse was that he was in financial trouble, which prompted him to cheat

Stanley Omondi has become arguably the most talked about person in chess at the moment.

The 25-year-old Kenyan chess player disguised himself as a woman to compete in his country's female open chess tournament.

According to BBC Africa Sports, Omondi registered himself as Millicent Awour, dressing up head-to-toe in a burka and wearing spectacles. Apparently, organisers became suspicious of the unknown player's success, which led to him being exposed.

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Chess Kenya president Bernard Wanjala said:

"We didn't have any suspicion at first, because wearing a hijab is normal. 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].

"One of the red flags we also noticed [was] the shoes, he was wearing more masculine shoes, than feminine. 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."

Wanjala added that Omondi would be banned from playing for several years, though he would eventually be allowed back into the sport at some point. Omondi has since written a letter of apology, saying that he had financial needs which forced him to attempt his gambit.

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Tagoe's career derailed by age-cheating

It's not the first time Sports Brief reported on how individuals have cheated to advance their interests in sports.

Former Hearts of Oak and Ebusua Dwarfs midfielder Joe Tagoe narrated how he almost exchanged his life for money after reducing his age to secure a contract abroad. Tagoe decreased his age to 21 after earning a deal to play in Egypt.

However, it ended up affecting his move after he was handed rigorous training routines.