Wang Tianyi, the "first person" in Chinese chess, has been investigated and questioned for more than ten years

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2024-06-27 13:24Cover News Official Account

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01 Wang Tianyi, the "first person" of Chinese chess, was recently investigated by the police in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, on suspicion of accepting bribes from non-state workers.

02 Wang Tianyi has ranked first in the country in terms of chess player rating for 11 consecutive years since April 24, 2024, and has reached a record high of 2,800 points in 2023.

03 Doubts have been raised for more than ten years, Wang Tianyi was questioned for using technical software to cheat after the 2012 National Chess League, and then publicly challenged the ten-game chess duel.

In 042023, senior Chinese chess grandmaster Liu Dahua publicly reported Guo Liping, deputy director of the Chess and Card Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sports of China, for allegedly manipulating the game, causing a shock in the chess world.

05 Due to this report, Wang Tianyi announced that he would withdraw from the Hangzhou Asian Games chess competition due to physical reasons.

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Cover News Reporter Chen Ganlu

Since April 24, 2024, Wang Tianyi, who has been ranked first in the country in terms of chess player rating for 11 consecutive years, has not appeared in public activities for 11 consecutive years. According to the latest news from the "Economic Observer" on the 26th, Wang Tianyi was investigated by the police in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province a few months ago, and was suspected of accepting bribes from non-state workers. The cover news reporter also asked a number of chess players to confirm that Wang Tianyi had indeed been taken away by the police for investigation.

"Genius" and "First Man"

Wang Tianyi's road to learning chess can be described as smooth sailing, and he has always been called a "genius" when he became famous at a young age. Born in Beijing in 1989, Wang Tianyi showed his talent for chess at an early age, and has never experienced the experience of being taught by a famous teacher in the Chinese chess tradition, and has always participated as a student chess player.

In 2002, he won the first "China Middle School Student Newspaper Cup" Beijing Children's Triathlon Chess Championship Middle School Group Chess Championship; In 2001, 2003 and 2005, he won the national junior championship three times, and gradually won the reputation of "genius" in the chess circle. In 2005, he won the 16-year-old age group championship of the National Youth Chess Championship for the first time and was promoted to chess master.

In October 2012, Wang Tianyi won the national individual chess championship, becoming the 16th Chinese men's national chess champion and promoted to grandmaster. Also in September 2012, at the 7th National Peasant Games held in Henan Province, Wang Tianyi changed his name and surname to "Wang Tianyi", pretending to be a farmer to participate in the competition, and won the men's rapid chess championship. But it was later revealed, and Wang Tianyi publicly apologized.

In 2014, Wang Tianyi won the first place in the national chess player rating, and has "occupied" this position for 11 consecutive years. Among them, in 2023, his rating will reach 2,800 points, a record high since the implementation of the rating for Chinese chess, so Wang Tianyi is also known as the "first person" in Chinese chess today.

At the same time, Wang Tianyi's chess fans also call him an "alien", lamenting that his chess level, record and rating are super-first-class in China.

Skepticism has been voiced for more than a decade

Accompanied by the reputation of becoming famous at a young age, there was a suspicion of Wang Tianyi, and it lasted for more than ten years. As early as the 2012 National Chess League, after Wang Tianyi won the first place in his personal winning rate, some chess players questioned him for using technical software to cheat. Subsequently, the national champion Sun Yongzheng made remarks suggesting that the chess player cheated, and Wang Tianyi "made an appointment" on Weibo with personal real-name verification: "I was shocked to read Weibo this morning, and last year's national champion Sun Yongzheng also began to insinuate that he used software to cheat." The revelation of such a level of chess player will attract a chorus. In order to prove my innocence, I had to openly challenge Sun Teda to the ten-game chess duel, at any time and place. ”

In January 2023, Wang Tianyi, who ranked first in the national chess rating, and Zheng Weitong, who ranked second in the national chess rating, originally planned to launch the "Shibanqi" commercial competition, but before the tournament, Zheng Weitong proposed to carry an anti-cheat device, and later, the tournament was canceled for various reasons.

What caused a shock in the chess world was that in 2023, Liu Dahua, a senior Chinese chess grandmaster known as the "chess king", publicly reported Guo Liping, then deputy director of the Chess and Card Sports Management Center of the General Administration of Sports, under the real-name system. Liu Dahua said in the report, "For a long time, she (i.e., Guo Liping, reporter's note) shielded and connived at the underworld forces in the Chinese chess world, openly using computer software and modern scientific and technological means to manipulate the winners and losers of various large-scale domestic competitions and the distribution of bonuses, making Chinese chess, a cultural treasure of the Chinese nation, reduced to a tool for a handful of scum in the chess world to buy and sell wins and losers, and take bribes for profit." ”

In the report, Liu Dahua also said, "For a long time, Guo Liping has not investigated or asked about this shocking scandal in the Chinese chess world, but has suppressed and retaliated against the athletes and coaches who came forward to expose the scandal." Many chess enthusiasts speculated that the matters involved in the report implied accusations against Wang Tianyi.

Subsequently, Wang Tianyi, who had already entered the Asian Games list, announced that he would withdraw from the Hangzhou Asian Games chess competition due to physical reasons.

Biography was taken away on his 35th birthday?

Since April 24, 2024, Wang Tianyi's public activities have not been seen. In the video live broadcast platform he signed daily, he did not appear in public again. According to the Economic Observer, Wang Tianyi was investigated by the police on April 23, 2024, including the economic investigation department of the Hangzhou police, and this day was Wang Tianyi's 35th birthday.

The above-mentioned insider said that Liu Dahua's report was one of the "fuses" of the case. Regarding Wang Tianyi's suspected matter, insiders introduced that he was suspected of accepting bribes from non-state functionaries.

Before Wang Tianyi officially "naturalized" the Hangzhou Branch of the China Chess Academy in March 2018, he participated in the Xiangqi League as a "free man" and "contract worker" all the year round, joined at least 5 teams before and after, and was active in the social and live broadcast platforms of Xiangqi all year round.

Wang Tianyi's achievements and the number of championships in China in the past ten years are worthy of the first person in chess, he has won the team championship and individual winning rate championship of the National Chess League for many times, won the men's team championship of chess on behalf of the Zhejiang team in the 2021 National Games, won the World Chess Championship three times, and won the chess championship of the World Intelligent Games many times.

Wang Tianyi has a large number of chess fans, and because of his activity on social and live streaming platforms, he has a high traffic in the Chinese chess circle. However, many insiders said that because of his maverick personality, there are not many chess players who have deep friends with Wang Tianyi, and everyone does not know him well enough.

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