I struggle to label it as character flaws because it implies that it is an immutable property of the person. In reality, a lot of the no-stakes cheaters are compensating for something else. People often use video games as a means of escapism. There’s no reason not to think that people cheat in video games as a means of experiencing success, while living in a world that increasingly becomes difficult to succeed in.

There’s another group of “cheaters” and that’s just people who like pushing the game to the limits. Most video game speed running nowadays involves exploits and bugs. There’s often a fine line between labeling something as “cheating” vs “a whole new way to experience media”. I wouldn’t label those people as people with character flaws, even if they use these exploits maliciously. Some people don’t see the video game as something holy and untouchable. They see it as a testing ground, like how a pen tester might see a company’s infra. And their innovations sometimes produces great benefit for the gaming society, for example advances in speed running, etc.

I think the people that cheat in online chess probably fall in the first category. But I wanted to produce the second category because they might also be labeled as “cheaters” with character flaws.

"label it as character flaws because it implies that it is an immutable property"

That's a misinterpretation, I believe. Nearly every story involves character development; there's no reason to believe that it's immutable.

Some elements of character may be less mutable, or at least assumed to be less mutable. But character overall is a continuous work in progress.

> ...while living in a world that increasingly becomes difficult to succeed in

This is interesting. What is different about the world today than in the past?

A tl;dr of this is: cheating to win a game is a form of trolling, which is enjoyable to some in itself.

I think "still developing a sense of character" is more accurate than "character flaws".

We all grow and learn over time, and need more time and the understanding of others earlier on.