DrLupo and PogChamps 6 cheating controversy explained

A new controversy has erupted in the livestreaming and chess communities, with Twitch streamer Benjamin "DrLupo" being accused of cheating at the PogChamps 6 event. On April 30, 2025, DrLupo participated in the group stage of the chess tournament. At one point, the content creator went up against YouTuber Wolfe Glick, also known as "Wolfey," a 1340-rated player.

At the seven-hour-25-minute mark of his broadcast, Benjamin appeared to play his moves flawlessly after his Queen was hung (left unprotected). The situation drew the attention of Reddit users, who accused him of cheating.

Redditor Then-Coconut9735 shared their thoughts on the r/chess subreddit, explaining why they believed DrLupo cheated at PogChamps 6. According to them, the FPS streamer played the endgame "absolutely flawlessly," with his decisions "feeling out of place" for a player rated 650:

"From what I could see, his opponent was down -4 by move 17 but then played almost flawlessly through the rest of the game. His endgame was absolutely flawless, and I did not find any discussion or thought about the moves in the stream. In the end, where there were probably 12 moves that lead to mate in 1 he still seemed confused and seemed lowkey surprised he won. The kind of decision-making just felt out of place for a 650-rated player, at least in my opinion."

They also discussed "another detail" they observed about DrLupo's behavior:

"Another detail that raised some questions was how he behaved on stream. Around the end of Game 2, his head movement on camera seemed to indicate he was repeatedly glancing between monitors, which gave me the impression he might have been referencing something off-screen. Sorry if i sound like a former world champion here but it seemed like it is and chat was also banned for this game obviously."

Meanwhile, Redditor u/PetrifyGWENT alleged that DrLupo was "blatantly cheating" at PogChamps 6 by "playing every single engine move after hanging his queen."

DrLupo blatantly cheats in PogChamps ($100k prize pool) by playing every single engine move after hanging his queen byu/PetrifyGWENT inLivestreamFail

Readers can review Wolfey and DrLupo's match on Chess.com by clicking here.

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DrLupo admits his "f**k up" and drops out of PogChamps 6 to "help maintain competitive integrity"

In addition to Reddit, netizens on X also alleged that DrLupo cheated during the group stage of the PogChamps 6 tournament. X user @lngenius_ called the 38-year-old out, writing:

"Cheating in a for fun creator event? How pathetic. Hope you’re ashamed. He cheated. No matter what he says. Blunders queen, *thinks* for 2 minutes, plays 25 consecutive engine moves with consistent time usage, cannot explain thought process behind any of the highly complex ideas. Cheated and got caught, get over it."

The Twitch streamer responded and refuted cheating allegations:

"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."

Approximately four hours later, he posted another update on X, announcing that he had decided to withdraw from PogChamps 6 to "help maintain competitive integrity."

While admitting to his "f**k up" and apologizing, the content creator wrote:

"Regarding @chesscom PogChamps tourney: 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. 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."

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Chess.com has also issued a statement, announcing that a "fair play violation" occurred during DrLupo's match, adding that those who violate the policy will have their accounts closed.