Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” has surely had a lot of viewers on the platform, since the month of October. Not only actress Anya Taylor-Joy as Beth Harmon made fame, but also the old-time board game chess.

In fact, the love of people for Harmon’s character in the series may be the reason why internet Chess game, Chess.com has seen surge in its number of active players.

Here’s the problem though: most of the Chess players found cheating on the game.

Chess.com sees surge in players… also cheating

Beth Harmon’s character on ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ has surely made a lot of chess fans love the game even more. For those who didn’t know how to play it, it absolutely gave them idea on how this classic game is done.

Unfortunately, cheating is more evident in this game today– especially when it’s made online.

On Saturday, Dec. 12, Business Insider reported that Chess.com– leading online chess app in the world– had close over 18,000 accounts on the platform in November alone, over issues of cheating.

“The recent wave of new players who have discovered their passion for chess on Chess.com since The Queen’s Gambit’s release has been truly humbling for us,” wrote Nick Barton, Director of Business Development at Chess.com, in an email to Business Insider. “We will continue to evolve our fair play technology to ensure that Chess.com remains the top destination to play and learn chess for players of all skill levels.”

It was not explained how the gamers could hijack each chess battle.

However, Chess.com finds this increasing problem among users. Therefore, it designed its algorithms to compare player moves to those recommended by popular chess bots, or even detect when a player diverges from their usual patterns of play.

“Developing effective fair play detection methods is a complicated process. Chess.com uses proprietary technology combined with many years of expertise as well as a significant investment of time and resources to create a safe and fair playing environment for our members,” Barton wrote in a statement to Business Insider.

Where to buy chess board game?

Aside from increased number on players using Chess.com, Walmart also saw sales increase of over 1,000% on people looking and buying for chess board games.

The story of “The Queen’s Gambit”

Netflix’s “The Queen’s Gambit” captured the attention of everyone with its thrilling, exciting shots on the series. Even add the effect of chess battles between Beth Harmon and its brilliant opponents.

The TV series tells about the story of Beth as a prodigy and orphan, set during the Cold War era. Ever since her mom passed away, Beth went aloof in everything she does. Until she met the orphanage’s janitor William Shaibel, whom taught her to play chess.

While she was learning how to play chess, she was adopted by Alma Wheatley, played by director Marielle Heller.

At this time, Harmon has improved her skills on playing chess. It was also the time wherein she has started to compete around the world.