'King of xiangqi' Wang Tianyi receives lifetime ban for match-fixing, bribery

Tianyi and Yuefei have been in custody since August, after police investigated the two players for manipulating domestic xiangqi competitions. According to CXA, the two players have been fixing matches over a long period of time at a high frequency, damaging the Chinese Xiangqi community. They either paid their opponents to lose or accepted money to lose matches. Specific details of the violations were not disclosed, China Daily reported.

The two players will not be allowed to participate in events organized or authorized by CXA or its affiliates. In addition, the organization has revoked the grandmaster titles of Tianyi and Yuefei. CXA is working with the relevant authorities to ensure that the two players receive their punishment.

The incident began with a leaked recording of a match-fixing conversation between Tianyi and Yuefei in April 2023, causing widespread outrage in the xiangqi community. The amount of money involved was about US$113,000. The police investigated the case before arresting the two players.

Tianyi, 35, won the Chinese Xiangqi championship for the first time in 2012 and has been the number one player in the country for the past 10 years. Because China dominates xiangqi, Tianyi is often considered the king of xiangqi, with achievements almost as astounding as Magnus Carlsen in chess. He won the world championship three times, in 2013, 2017 and 2022. He and Yuefei were both awarded the title of international grandmaster by the World Xiangqi Federation (WXF), the highest title in the sport.

Yuefei, 41, was the national runner-up in 2010 and is a teammate of Tianyi at the national champion in 2023.

The police or the WXF have yet to issue any statements regarding the case.