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the former "child prodigy"

he succumbed to the temptation of interests.

author: yin jie

on september 19, when the words "lifetime ban" were tied to the name "wang tianyi", many people were stunned.

in people's impression, he is labeled as "chess prodigy" and "grandmaster", but now he is labeled as "buying and selling chess pieces" and "manipulating games".

how did this top chess player, known as the "no. 1 chinese chess player," get to where he is today?

the fermentation of "recording gate"

according to media reports, wang tianyi officially accepted police investigation on april 23 this year, which happened to be his 35th birthday.

a year ago, in april 2023, a recording of a phone call between chinese chess grandmaster wang yuefei and hao jichao circulated on the internet. the two talked about topics such as buying and selling chess pieces, cheating with software, and manipulating games, and wang tianyi was mentioned many times.

due to wang tianyi's special status in the industry, this recording attracted widespread attention as soon as it was exposed.

the comments at that time were mainly divided into two categories. one group believed that the problem should be dug deeper and the chaos in the chess world should be rectified. the other group defended wang tianyi and believed that someone was deliberately discrediting him.

a few months later, liu dahua, a retired chinese chess grandmaster known as the "king of chess", posted a video on a social platform, reporting the chaos in the industry under his real name. he also mentioned that there are forces that "openly use computer software and modern scientific and technological means to manipulate and monopolize the outcome and prize distribution of various large-scale domestic competitions."

liu dahua said that there is a small group of bad people in the chess world who use chess as a tool to buy and sell wins and losses, and to accept bribes for profit. "i hope that the relevant state departments will conduct a thorough investigation and deal with the matter seriously, and restore a clear and fair sky to the chess world."

·liu dahua reported under his real name. (screenshot of online video)

subsequently, liu dahua's disciple, chinese chess master dang fei, also reported the incident under his real name, saying that he had handed over the 90-minute full version of the "recording gate" file to the relevant departments, demanding a thorough investigation and that he was willing to fully cooperate with all investigations and evidence collection.

the voices of two heavyweights in the chess world pushed the "recording gate" incident to further ferment.

wang tianyi, who was the focus of public opinion, did not respond to external doubts at first. however, more than a month before the opening of the hangzhou asian games, he suddenly announced his withdrawal from the asian games due to "health reasons."

as the voices of doubt grew louder, wang tianyi responded in a live broadcast in october last year, insisting that he did not cheat, nor did he buy or sell chess pieces to manipulate the game, and that he was only attacked because "i have personality", "i am awesome" and "i have many enemies", and that "it is boring for me to prove my innocence."

·wang tianyi responded to outside doubts during the live broadcast. (screenshot of online video)

however, subsequent investigation results exposed the claims of wang tianyi and his supporters.

the "recording gate" incident has attracted great attention from the chinese chess association. after conducting an in-depth investigation in conjunction with relevant parties, relevant departments found out that athletes such as wang tianyi and wang yuefei did engage in illegal activities such as buying and selling chess pieces and manipulating competitions. "the time span was long, the frequency was high, the nature was extremely bad, the circumstances were extremely serious, and it caused serious damage to the development of the chess sport."

in august 2024, wang tianyi was approved for arrest by the hangzhou procuratorate.

in accordance with the "sports law of the people's republic of china" and other relevant regulations, after research, the chinese chess association imposed a lifetime ban on wang tianyi and wang yuefei, revoked all technical titles awarded by the association, including grandmaster, and prohibited the two from engaging in and participating in all chess competitions and activities organized or authorized by the chinese chess association and its member units.

in the notice, the association particularly emphasized: "the style and discipline of the game and the style and discipline of the business are the lifeline of the development of chess. the chinese chess association will learn from this incident and comprehensively organize and carry out the rectification of the style and discipline of the chess business. we will severely investigate and punish illegal behaviors such as buying and selling chess pieces and manipulating competitions, and will never tolerate them, and continue to promote the purification of the development ecology of chess. we sincerely welcome all sectors of society to continue to supervise the work of chess."

from "child prodigy" to "chess king"

looking through wang tianyi's resume, one can understand why he was once regarded as an iconic figure in the chinese chess world.

wang tianyi was born in beijing in 1989. both of his parents are senior engineers who attach great importance to their children's education and have enrolled him in many extracurricular interest classes since he was a child.

among the eight interest classes including english, composition, calligraphy, chess, table tennis, and basketball, wang tianyi is most passionate about chess and has shown great talent.

when he was 9 years old, he was recommended by his teacher to participate in the beijing youth chess competition and won the second place. at that time, he had only learned chess for two years, and his father took him to the xuanwu district children's palace every saturday for a two-hour chess class.

the coach of the beijing chess academy's junior class took a fancy to this "child prodigy" and recruited wang tianyi.

because he had to go to school and attend other interest classes during the day, wang tianyi could only spend four hours a week at the chess academy to learn chess. despite this, he won the national chess youth championship three times in 2001, 2003 and 2005.

·in 2004, wang tianyi (right) participated in the 13th asian chess championship.

at the age of 16, wang tianyi was promoted to chinese chess master, and then started a series of "highlight moments":

in 2008, he was admitted to the information management major of peking university with a reduced score because he defeated all his opponents in the "chess and card winter camp";

in 2012, he won the national chess individual championship, becoming the 16th "chess king" of new china and was promoted to chess grandmaster;

in 2014, he won the first place in the national chess player rating and has been at the top of the list for 11 consecutive years until this year.

in 2023, wang tianyi's rating reached 2800 points, setting a historical high since the implementation of the rating system in chinese chess, and thus earned the title of "the no. 1 player in chinese chess."

·wang tianyi playing chess.

these records are impressive, but wang tianyi's early career also had its share of blemishes. looking back now, it seems to be a harbinger of things to come.

in 2012, the national farmers games revealed that many professional athletes had falsified their qualifications to participate. in other words, they were not farmers, but used their identities to participate in the competition, including wang tianyi. at that time, he used the name "wang tianyi" and represented the beijing team to win the men's rapid chess championship.

after the incident was exposed, wang tianyi had to publicly apologize: "i deeply regret this matter, and will take it as a lesson to improve my chess character and chess skills, and contribute to the chess industry with a better attitude."

what was said 12 years ago seems particularly ironic when read now.

from "tacit understanding chess" to buying and selling chess

wang tianyi became famous at a young age, studied at peking university, and dominated the chess world for ten years. he originally had the potential to become a master of his generation, but he could not resist the temptation of reality, lost his bottom line as a human being, and his career prospects were ruined. it is really regrettable.

in recent years, as the country has stepped up its anti-corruption efforts in the sports world, some projects that were once considered "not so commercial" have also been uncovered to involve inside stories such as match-fixing, profiteering, and "social connections."

after wang tianyi was investigated by the police, industry insiders disclosed more details about cheating in competitions and buying and selling chess pieces.

with the development of artificial intelligence (ai), a common way of cheating in chess games is that chess players carry signal transmitters with them to send chess game signals to their accomplices outside the field. the accomplices use ai to obtain the best moves and then send them to the chess players.

however, the penalty notice issued by the chinese chess association did not mention wang tianyi's cheating in the competition. according to the previous police announcement that he was "suspected of accepting bribes as a non-state employee," wang tianyi's problems should be concentrated on buying and selling chess pieces and manipulating competitions.

an insider in the sports circle revealed to global people reporters that the buying and selling of chess pieces in the chess world originated from "tacit chess", also known as "humanitarian chess", and its nature is similar to the "tacit ball" in certain ball games. "in essence, it is also a fixed match and fake chess."

because the chess community is relatively small and closed, chess players are generally familiar with each other, and often have a master-apprentice or master-student relationship. therefore, in some competitions, chess players will maximize the interests of the group by playing "tacit chess".

in recent years, with the development of china's economy and the revival of traditional culture, the prize money of chess competitions has also risen, and "tacit chess" has gradually evolved into buying and selling chess. especially when the outcome of the game involves core interests such as the level and honor of chess players, the temptation of money also comes along.

in 2017, the extremely powerful wang tianyi lost to an unknown opponent in the final of the national individual chess championship, which triggered doubts about whether he was "selling chess pieces".

cui chuangan, a financial writer and commentator, told global people: "as an amateur chinese chess fan, i think the industry chaos and corruption reflected in the wang tianyi incident must be taken seriously. the corruption in the chess world is closely related to the excessive marketization in recent years."

"the high prize money and ranking points, commercial sponsorship and advertising revenue, the scramble for benefits have increased competition among chess players and become a motivation for some people to profit through improper means. in addition, factors such as technological development, loopholes in competition management, insufficient supervision and lack of punishment have created a breeding ground and growth conditions for certain corruption and cheating phenomena."

cui chuangang believes that the marketization of the sports industry is a double-edged sword. once it falls into a state of disorderly development or lack of supervision, it will inevitably lead to corruption.

"to solve this problem, we must first strengthen industry self-discipline, second, expand public opinion supervision, and third, supervision must be in place. wang tianyi's lifetime ban has sent a clear signal of supervision. only by taking multiple measures in the future can we maintain the purity and fairness of chess."

some media commented that if chess competitions become a "scripted" "performance", it would undoubtedly be a betrayal of the sport itself and a violation of the basic sporting principle of fair competition.

in recent years, snooker match-fixing incidents and a series of corruption cases in the football field have been exposed one after another, and the relevant personnel have been severely dealt with. with the continuous improvement of sports rule of law, no matter how big or small the project is, it is not beyond the law, and there is no room for luck.