It was a bold gambit by the 25-year-old Kenyan chess player to disguise himself as a woman to compete in his country’s female open chess tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n Dressed head to toe in a burka and wearing spectacles, Stanley Omondi had registered himself as Millicent Awour.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n But Omondi’s daring move was exposed as the organisers got suspicious by the unknown player’s success.<\/span><\/p>\n In his defence, he later wrote in an apologetic letter seen by the BBC that he had “financial needs”.<\/span><\/p>\n He also said that he was “ready to accept all consequences”. Omondi did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n Chess Kenya president Bernard Wanjala said that while he was likely to get a ban of “several years”, he would not be excluded from chess for ever.<\/span><\/p>\n “We didn’t have any suspicion at first, because wearing a hijab is normal,” Wanjala told BBC Sport Africa. <\/span><\/p>\n “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].”<\/span><\/p>\n His footwear and the fact that Omondi did not speak added to concerns.<\/span><\/p>\n “One of the red flags we also noticed [was] the shoes, he was wearing more masculine shoes, than feminine,” Wanjala said.<\/span><\/p>\n “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.”<\/span><\/p>\n Despite their reservations, officials allowed him to continue, afraid they might be accused of profiling because of the religious attire and only ejected him in the fourth round. <\/span><\/p>\n “When he advanced, after he won a very strong match and we called him, he was not surprised,” according to Wanjala.<\/span><\/p>\n “He acknowledged that indeed he is a man. He regrets what happened, apologised and said he was only doing that because he had financial difficulties and thought winning the title will help him overcome.”<\/span><\/p>\n The Kenya Open, which was held last week, is an annual competition based in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. <\/span><\/p>\n This year’s edition attracted over 400 players from 22 countries. Ninety-nine were registered in the women’s category where the winner would take home over $3,000 (\u00a32,400). <\/span><\/p>\n Omondi is a known chess player, but Wanjala believes he thought his odds would be better in the women’s category given the higher standard of play in the men’s part of the tournament.<\/span><\/p>\n While Kenya’s chess federation has dealt with cases of age cheating before, this type of fraud is a first of its kind. <\/span><\/p>\n The case has been referred to the body’s disciplinary committee which is expected to give a ruling in the next couple of days. <\/span><\/p>\n “It is an extreme case, the verdict may include a ban. I rule out a life ban, but he may be given several years’ ban from playing chess,” Wanjala explained. <\/span><\/p>\n![\"Chess](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/onesport\/cps\/624\/cpsprodpb\/450C\/production\/_129367671_omondiplaying.jpg\")
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