Kenyan man exposed for playing in women’s chess tournament in a niqab
- The university student, who had ‘financial problems’, believed he had a better chance of winning the women’s competition prizemoney
- As ‘Milicent Awour’, he played four rounds of the Nairobi Women’s Chess Open before the game was up
A young man wearing a niqab and glasses played four rounds of the Nairobi Women’s Chess Open before being exposed.
“I don’t think anything like it has ever happened anywhere in the world,” said John Mukabi, secretary general of the Kenyan Chess Federation.
Mukabi said that after the imposter was unmasked he explained that he had done it because he had a better chance of winning the women’s competition prizemoney.
The 31st Kenya Open, an international chess competition in Nairobi from April 6-10, attracted 445 participants, with 84 entries in the women’s tournament.
One veiled player, silent and elusive, attracted increasing suspicion as the rounds progressed.
“The first hint that there was something wrong was when I went around with a photographer to take pictures of the competition,” Mukabi said on Sunday.