Stanley Omondi, a 25-year-old Kenyan chess player disguised himself as a woman to compete in his country’s women’s open chess tournament.
Reports indicate that Omondi registered for the Kenya Open Chess Championship (women’s division) in Nairobi under the name Millicent Awour.
Omondo dressed in full body hijab and wore spectacles.
Omondi was ejected after the fourth round of the tournament after losing to Uganda’s Ampaira Shakira.
“We didn’t have any suspicion at first, because wearing a hijab is normal,” said Bernard Wanjala, the president of Chess Kenya.
Wanjala said that officials were tipped off to the scheme because of Omondi’s footwear and the fact that he won against “very strong players” making it unlikely that the competitor was a newcomer to chess.
“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,” he added.
He was brought to a back room and asked for identification documents.
Omondi wrote in an apology letter that he had “financial needs.”
The tournament had a total prize fund of around $42,000.
