Does sandbagging result in a ban?

You know what? The ratings don't exist to be tampered with, and I'm very pissed if I have to play an underrated opponent.

For another game I play there was a series on YouTube by a pro player, who started at the lowest rank and tried to make his way up to the highest rank. While he obviously won almost every game, he played proportionately to the rank he was in so it wasn’t obvious that he was a way higher rank than the one he was playing in. The impact to other players was minimal because they only played one game with him. He gave lots of instructive tips, I found it very helpful and fun to watch. I think it’s definitely a good idea and it’s unfortunate that it’s not allowed on lichess.

It's likely to get banned, perhaps permanently if you impact other peoples ratings too much, so i wouldn't try it. But if your not too attached to your account, continue at your own risk!

man i dont know much so i will not say anything but if u want to start sandbagging u can give me ur ratung . i have no problem . invite me if u start ;];]];];;];];];];];];;];];];];]

Ratings are meant to be a measure of how good you are, and if you are a 1000 titled player, it is obvious that you are sandbagging. All the times i have lost to a low rated player who player a lot better than their rating, it gets me really annoyed. Perhaps if you made it clear to your opponent it was for a stream and only played them with their consent, it might be okay. That wouldn't work in a tournament, as there is no aborting, though.

@CalbernandHowbe it's still a kind of fraud. How do I imagine him playing "at the other person's level"? Eventually he's gonna use his strength to win the game anyway.

yeah I know that it is unfair in that way, and I understand why it’s not allowed on lichess, and I’m not saying you should break the rules and do it anyway, I just think the impact is minimal and if it helps loads of people it should be fine. if magnus carlsen sandbagged his rating to 600 and won game by game all the way to 3000, made a YouTube series about it and helped loads of people, the players involved wouldn’t complain about a few lost points, woudl they?

By the same logic it would also help to lose against cheaters because you can watch them playing perfect chess.

I can try once

See #15.