Whe is convicted of cheating is done as a chess professional. For four days, Elisabeth Pähtz had to endure being insulted as a fraudster on various channels. Last Saturday, the Lichess Internet server blocked the account of the best German chess player in the middle of an online tournament. In such cases, it is almost always the case that the game was played with computer assistance. Experts began to analyze the moves of “Elisabeth Paehtz85”, the username. They weren’t the solid systems she was used to. Ingenious and nonsensical traits alternated. Most came to the conclusion that the games in the Lichess Blitz Titled Arena could not have been played by her like this.
On Wednesday, the World Chess Federation’s fair play panel confirmed that it had examined the allegations and that Pähtz could compete in the Chess Olympiad, in which the German selection starts this Friday. The panel had previously banned players from Brunei, Hong Kong, Mali and Nicaragua from the national tournament, which was held online for the first time.
After approval, the German Chess Federation gave Pähtz a free hand to express himself publicly. In her statement she confirms: “Without my knowledge, a member of my team who already had access to my YouTube channel also had access to my official Lichess account. Believing it to help my online profile and my brand, it played on my account several times. “
On the evening of the tournament, she was out with friends in Paris and the day before, when Aghiad Mero, a young player from Bahrain, read in the chat from her Lichess account, “Why do all Arabs have to cheat here?” At Mero’s Pähtz apologized on Monday and explained that the failure did not come from her, but that a helper had access to her account. The editors know the name of their helper. He remains anonymous here at Pähtz’s request and because the racist statement could have been made by third parties, to whom he also gave access to their account.
“I hope this serves not only as a lesson for me, but for all professional colleagues who may trust their team too much,” writes Pähtz. “My crime was naivety and trusting those who I thought were loyal friends and helpers.” Since chess professionals like you can only find an income online, they need more technical support than ever. Her trustworthy helper stood by her side with online sales, the creation of videos and streaming on the Twitch platform.
The day after she was banned from Lichess, a recording of her games from the online tournament in question appeared on her YouTube channel. An accompanying text in slightly incorrect English claimed to prove their innocence. The video, on which Pähtz, unlike other recordings, could neither be seen nor heard, she has since taken off the network and set up her passwords again.
Whether and how she will continue on Youtube and Twitch, she will not decide until after the Chess Olympiad and the German Masters that starts on Sunday in Magdeburg, especially since she has hardly made any money with it. The 35-year-old Erfurt woman is still too busy with the events of the past few days. “I was extremely disappointed by how many of my colleagues condemned me immediately without speaking to me.”
.
