A former chess prodigy from China has been banned for six months after losing 13 consecutive games over two tournaments and dropping 400 Elo points in a year.
FIDE has frequently investigated cases of suspected use of computer assistance, but sanctions for “sandbagging”—intentionally losing games—are highly unusual at the international level. The FIDE Ethics & Disciplinary Commission (EDC) announced its ruling on its website this week, marking what is likely the first instance of a player being sanctioned by the chess governing body for this form of cheating.
36-year-old Li Haoyu from Tianjin in northern China was found guilty of breaching Article 11.7(e)(ii) of the FIDE Code of Ethics, which prohibits conduct “likely to prejudice the integrity of a game of chess or the good reputation of the game.”
Li set alarm bells ringing when he lost 13 consecutive games over the course of two international tournaments in China in August 2024, dropping a total of 138 rating points to a career low of 1979. In August 2023, he was rated 2372, which means his rating had plummeted almost 400 points in just a year.
Li was known as a prodigy back home in China, scoring promising results in his childhood. He achieved an exceptional 2393 rating as a 10-year-old in July 1999, a level that would be extraordinary at that age even today, but never received a FIDE title. He had previously won the Chinese Youth Championship Under 10 twice, in 1998 and 1999, then the U12 title in 2001 with a perfect 11/11.
Internationally as well he scored great results at an early age. He finished second with 9/11 in the 1999 World Under 10 Youth Championship, behind none other than GM Dmitry Andreikin, defeating future grandmasters Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Sergei Zhigalko, and Wang Hao.
Despite showing great promise, the young talent decided to take a step away from chess to focus on his studies, and only played sporadically in the next decade. He maintained a rating of around 2300, hitting a peak of 2395 in May 2011.
After ten years of inactivity, he returned with a bang in 2022 by defeating 2575-rated GM Li Di in the Chinese League. It was a beautiful finish.
However, around a year later, it wasn’t his wins that would trigger attention, but his losses. In the 3rd China Binhai Chess Open in 2023, Li scored 3.5/9 against a field of opponents who were rated 400-500 points lower than him. His dive continued in November when he dropped another 42 rating points.
In 2024, he lost another 116 rating points by scoring 2.5/9 against opponents who were all rated more than 400 rating points below him.
Then, in the Chinese Chess League Division B in August, he scored 0/5, followed by 0/8 in the 4th Binhai Cup in August. The 13 consecutive losses meant another rating drop of 138 points, and now prompted a complaint by the Chinese Chess Association to FIDE.
The case was investigated by FIDE’s Fair Play Commission, the entity responsible for dealing with suspected cases of cheating in the chess world. According to the arbiter’s report, Li hardly used any time in his games.
The same report states that in all of the games he lost, the Respondent had a substantial amount of time remaining on his clock but failed to use it; that only two of his opponents had a higher Elo rating than him; and that the result he obtained was inexplicable in light of his Elo rating.
Asked for a response to the allegations, Li claimed that his strategy was to pressure opponents on the clock, comparing himself to former World Champion GM Ding Liren.
“My strategy has always been to apply pressure on my opponents through time management, a tactic employed by many top chess players, such as Ding Liren in the World Championship match.”
My strategy has always been to apply pressure on my opponents through time management, a tactic employed by many top chess players, such as Ding Liren in the World Championship match.
—Li Hiaoyu
He said in a later response to the panel that his strategy was aimed at putting pressure on his opponents, causing them to feel tense and make mistakes. He further explained, according to the decision, that in the games he lost his opponents were able to take advantage of this situation and convert it into a win.
His lowest-rated opponent during the two tournaments had a rating of 1790. That game mysteriously ended on move 40 in a position that appears equal.
In another game, he seemed to have a promising position, until everything just collapsed.
According to the decision, Li later failed to respond to the EDC’s own inquiries and did not submit a defense in the disciplinary phase. The Fair Play Commission found his explanations “illogical” and concluded that intentional defeat was the only plausible explanation for his results.
Professor Kenneth Regan, a renowned authority on chess cheating and advisor to the Fair Play Commission, also submitted a statistical report. Though the EDC said they chose not to base their ruling on that data, Regan had characterized Li’s results as a “markedly weak performance” from a statistical standpoint.
The verdict was not unanimous, as EDC member Khaled Arfa dissented, concluding that Li should be found not guilty due to a lack of direct evidence.
This conclusion rests upon the application of a fundamental legal principle: the benefit of the doubt must always favor the accused. In this case, the Respondent had not played chess for ten years, and the only claims about his intentions are speculative and unsupported by solid evidence. Such circumstances give rise to a clear and material doubt, which must be resolved in the Respondent’s favor.
Arfa further noted that Li had not played competitive chess between 2012 and 2022, and suggested that his 10-year absence could explain his poor form.
Despite the dissent, EDC chair Ali Nihat Yazici and member Ravindra Dongre concluded that Li “did not play his games with due respect” and that the evidence met the threshold for sanction. They further noted:
The EDC Chamber acknowledges that in the sport of chess, a player may perform very poorly during a tournament for various reasons, may experience a series of losses, and such poor results may further negatively affect their overall performance. However, in this tournament, the Chamber concludes that this cannot be the case.
The six-month ban from FIDE-rated events was effective from July 31. Li has the right to appeal the decision within 21 days.
Chess.com has not been able to reach Li for a comment on this story. He currently works as a coach for Chaoyue Chess Club in Tianjin, a club founded by GMs Li Chao and Wang Yue.
