Chinese chess player sues to regain title he lost for drinking and using hotel bathtub as a toilet

A competitor in Chinese chess says he has sued the national association in China for mental distress after he was stripped of a title for drinking alcohol and defecating in the bathtub of his hotel room at a recent competition.

Yan Chenglong doesn’t deny what happened but wrote in a civil complaint this week that he drank a moderate amount of beer to celebrate his win with other players and that some food had caused stomach problems and he couldn’t make it to the toilet in time.

The complaint came one week after a social media post by the Chinese Xiangqi Association that described the drinking and defecation. It said an investigation had found that Yan damaged hotel property, violated public order and good behaviour, and had a negative impact on the tournament.

Chinese chess, called xiangqi in Chinese, is a traditional board game that remains popular, particularly among older people. Neighbourhood residents play in parks and along sidewalks, often with small crowds gathered around to watch.

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Yan’s complaint — which demands that the association apologize, restore his reputation in the media and pay him 100,000 yuan ($14,000) in damages — was mailed to a court in central China’s Henan province on Monday, according to a post on Yan’s social media account.

The post includes photos of the six pages of the complaint and an envelope with an express mail sticker addressed to a court in central China’s Henan province.

Calls to the Chinese Xiangqi Association weren’t answered on Thursday and Friday.

The chess association said in its post that it had also looked into reports that Yan had cheated during the tournament but was unable to confirm them.