DrLupo removed from $100K online chess tournament over “most obvious cheating” fans have ever seen

DrLupo has no qualms when it comes to blatant cheating in an online chess tournament.

The popular streamer conceded to swindling after he was removed from the PogChamps 6 chess tournament. As reported by Dexerto, Chess.com has since stated that he committed a fair play violation.

For the unversed, on April 30, DrLupo, a 650-rated player, played against YouTuber Wolfe ‘Wolfey’ Glick, who holds a 1340 rating, in the tournament that would award the winner $100,000.

However, very early on, users were quick to point out that despite leaving his queen unprotected very early in the game, he played the rest of the game in a manner that only one familiar with the intricacies of the game could do. Droves were also quick to point out that he appeared to be glancing at something outside his monitor momentarily, and yet, frequently, possibly indicating external assistance.

Fans are now flocking to X to slam the streamer, such as this one user who penned:

"Its funny because he moral policed someone else, and now hes caught cheating in a charity tournament. You cant make it up."

The comments went on:

"Not existing cheating but I understand the pressure he must have felt. His main talent is video games, so going into any other sport / game he was not familiar with, anyone would feel pressure not to be embarrassed and finish last. This is the same reason athletes take PEDs," someone penned.

"He's done so much good raising money for charities. It's wild people will vilify him and disregard all the good for 1 bad action. I think people actually enjoy seeing good people fall these days," another defended.

"@DrLupo haha This is how you wreck your career in mere seconds," one more dissed.

"It’s worse than cheating, in my opinion. If there’s a cash prize, I frankly think it should be treated as fraud," someone else chimed in.

Even more usechimed in to opine:

"Does nobody have integrity anymore? Come on," one user lamented.

"Cheating in a prize tournament when you are already a multi-millionaire speaks for itself," another chimed in.

"This is stuff streamers can actually get caught for. Realize that streaming actually perpetually rewards streamers for cheating, as there is a direct correlation between performance and income. 'Stream safe cheats' are very much a thing, and are impossible to detect," someone else added.

"I do feel kind of bad for DrLupo. He probably was just goofing off and not actually using it to boost his skills. Chess community are a very serious people. Like Knights in shining armor. You don't want to disrespect them," yet another shared.

Sentiments online were visibly varied, though a large number of users condemned the streamer for his antics.

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DrLupo's cheating scandal explored as he pens statement after statement to apologize:

DrLupo, who initially denied the allegations, took to X to respond to the criticism:

“Literally explained all of it on stream as I was playing. Didn’t cheat. Had a good game and got rolled the rest of the day.”

However, in a follow-up post, he claimed he chose to leave the competition, despite Chess.com's statement indicating that he was eliminated:

“Had a ton of fun playing, but have decided to drop out of the event to help maintain competitive integrity for those involved, as well as the tourney organizers,” DrLupo said. “Having the main stream up on my left monitor over the course of the day today to watch other games being played led to me getting move information I shouldn’t have had for a game. That’s on me and no one else. That’s my f**k up. I apologize – you’d think I would know better, but here we are.”

The live stream of the games wasn't the only thing helping him cheat. In a response to one user, he conceded to reading chats, which he says gave him suggestions.

“Believe me or not – I played what I played. Pulled from chat though, couldn’t stop looking. Which as I said, I know better.”

In another stream, however, DrLupo conceded to relying on a chess software known as "engine" to cheat.

“I f**ked up. And I deserve 100% of what people are saying. Using the engine to fix my own fragility is f**king pathetic.”

Chess.com, in their statement about the disqualification of DrLupo on X, penned:

“DrLupo has been closed for a fair play violation that occurred during today’s Pogchamps event. He will be replaced in the consolation bracket before the start of tomorrow’s round. We wish everyone the best tomorrow and remind them that receiving any help during a match is a violation of our FP Policy and will result in a DQ and account closure.”

The streamer then took to X to pen an apology to his opponent, Wolfey:

“I lied directly to @WolfeyGlick and used him as a prop on stream. He didn’t deserve that. None of you did. I messaged him directly to apologize, and I’ll gladly do it on stream, too.”

As for why he chose to cheat, DrLupo said:

“I think I did it for a false sense of self validation. To convince myself that I could win when clearly I shouldn’t have. It was disrespectful to the entire online chess community. I was stupid enough to not even considering the consequences of what I was doing. And I accept those consequences now, because I deserve it. I understand that people are going to question everything in my career now. I don’t blame them. I was the guy that vocally hated people who cheated in video games, Tarkov is riddled with it. And I did the most hypocritical thing I could do."

He went on,

“I’m sorry. To everyone. My friends and family. People that watch me. Anyone that I associate with. I betrayed your trust. I hope one day people can forgive me, and I understand if they can’t. I hope one day I can forgive myself, too. I’m typically pretty hard on myself.”

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PogChamps 6 will conclude today, May 2. $20,000 will be awarded to the winner.