Male chess player, Millicent Awuor, disguises himself as woman and cheats his way through championship tournament

Male chess player disguises himself as woman and cheats his way through championship tournament.

In a bizarre turn of events at the Kenya Open Chess Championship in Nairobi, a sneaky man dressed as a woman managed to cheat his way through to the female section of the tournament.

The cunning impostor, who kept his true identity a secret by wearing a niqab and never speaking to anyone, registered under the name Millicent Awuor, fooling even the tournament staff.

Shillings ($7,630), attracted seven international grandmasters.

The impostor player, who has an international classical rating close to 1500 and a blitz rating close to 1750, has been expelled from the tournament pending disciplinary action. The points that he scored were reversed and awarded to his opponents.

The Kenya Open Chess Championship has attracted almost 450 players from 22 federations. The tournament takes place April 6-10, 2023, at the Sarit Expo Center in Nairobi, Kenya.

However, 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.

In a private room, the man was asked for identification, and he eventually came clean, admitting that he was a university student who needed the cash.

Despite having an international rating close to 1500 and a blitz rating close to 1750, the impostor player has been kicked out of the tournament and all his points have been awarded to his opponents.

To keep his identity hidden, he was wearing a niqab each day which left only his glasses and eyes visible. After the end of his games, he wouldn’t talk to anyone. When registering for the tournament, the player “never uttered a word” and “simply wrote on a paper his name,” according to organizer and Kenyan Chess Federation President Benard Wanjala.

Chief arbiter Antony Kionga told Chess.com that the staff initially was cautious to interfere, as they were taking into account the possibility that they were dealing with an orthodox Muslim woman. However, as the tournament went underway, both players and arbiters noticed that the person in question had an odd walking style and was wearing shoes commonly used by men.