PlayChess Machine Room Exclusion Policy

[BB+]

Not to dig up dirt, but a post from Stickles on Rybka forum: http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforu ... 04#pid5804

Mar 20 2007, responding to VR joke that one can buy "Rybka 2.4" from ChessBase (recall that Rybka was not sold by CB at the time):

And you wonder why i have a problem with rybka?
For your information "Chessbase" doesn't sell second rate engines" nor will we ever sell second rate engines...Also for your info i have been deleting all users using this "fake" rybka 2.4 . Not that i have to , but i dislike piracy and cloners.. so keep your silly comments to yourself..
Vasik i think it's time you started to act like a mature programer and not a 13 year old kid with a new toy, since you started programing rybka engine you have been nothing but a pompass ass with his head stuck very high ,Someone will knock you down one day and you will be no more then a memory of the past..The engine world is a small comunity of well know and respected people, your making it real hard for people to respect you with alot of your actions..
It's not hard for everyone to get along, but when you act like you thinking your better then everyone because you have right now the current strongest Blitz engine, trust me one day this will end , then who will you be?

Regards
Richard Stickles

One can find other long diatribes (particularly from Michael Waesch) about his actions as a ChessBase sysop. For instance: http://rybkaforum.net/cgi-bin/rybkaforu ... .pl?tid=57

As mentioned in both those threads (and detailed more here), RS was annoyed that many users had problems with trying to connect with Rybka to PlayChess, and he had to solve most of them (asking at one point if VR could ever make a version that actually worked). Incidentally, RS also mentions that computer chess is only 5% of the CB market.

[Prima]

The PlayChess Forum is gone from hiarcs.net. Looks like there may have been a parting of ways. Harvey wrote somewhere (note to legal, this is a paraphrase): "as long as I'm sysop, [the clones] won't be allowed on PlayChess," or something similar -- I can't find the quote right now. Anyway, looks like famous last words.

I don't enjoy the prospect of anyone losing their "jobs", and I hope that whatever occurred was amicable.

Jeremy

Actually that sounds like something Harvey Williamson would say. I don't question it one bit.

Well there goes Harvey again; asserting his opinion that Houdini, IvanHoe, RobboLito/Ippolit are Rybka-clones. I bet his conclusions are based on the hear-says...usually accompanied without tangible facts proving the "said engines" are Rybka-clones.

It's one thing to bully pcc players and abuse the Sysop-position for self-aggrandizement. It's another thing when things begin to unravel about the abuse of Sysops/Rybka-issues - based on unfounded grounds, he/they then "claim" to follow orders. Then they play the "I didn't know" and "I'm helpless" role in these situations.

When these tactics don't work altogether, they quit the very problem initiated and enforced by them - without a fight they so desire to take on innocent pcc customers. A pity.

[Kevin Frayer]

The PlayChess Forum is gone from hiarcs.net. Looks like there may have been a parting of ways. Harvey wrote somewhere (note to legal, this is a paraphrase): "as long as I'm sysop, [the clones] won't be allowed on PlayChess," or something similar -- I can't find the quote right now. Anyway, looks like famous last words.

I don't enjoy the prospect of anyone losing their "jobs", and I hope that whatever occurred was amicable.

Jeremy

In War: Resolution
In Defeat: Defiance
In Victory: Magnanimity
In Peace: Good Will

Winston Churhill:

[Cubeman]

The PlayChess Forum is gone from hiarcs.net. Looks like there may have been a parting of ways. Harvey wrote somewhere (note to legal, this is a paraphrase): "as long as I'm sysop, [the clones] won't be allowed on PlayChess," or something similar -- I can't find the quote right now. Anyway, looks like famous last words.

I don't enjoy the prospect of anyone losing their "jobs", and I hope that whatever occurred was amicable.

Jeremy

Actually that sounds like something Harvey Williamson would say. I don't question it one bit.

Well there goes Harvey again; asserting his opinion that Houdini, IvanHoe, RobboLito/Ippolit are Rybka-clones. I bet his conclusions are based on the hear-says...usually accompanied without tangible facts proving the "said engines" are Rybka-clones.

It's one thing to bully pcc players and abuse the Sysop-position for self-aggrandizement. It's another thing when things begin to unravel about the abuse of Sysops/Rybka-issues - based on unfounded grounds, he/they then "claim" to follow orders. Then they play the "I didn't know" and "I'm helpless" role in these situations.

When these tactics don't work altogether, they quit the very problem initiated and enforced by them - without a fight they so desire to take on innocent pcc customers. A pity.

I remember reading the HW post too, it went along the lines that some one was complaining that it was easy to cheat on PlayChess engine room and use Houdini renamed with hex editor to some other legal engine. So this person decided to test this theory out and renamed Houdini with a version of Critter 64 bit with some other numbers thrown in, he was surprised that no-one picked up on this and thought it was wrong .
Then another poster wanted to know why ChessBase had this silly rule (at the time) to ban those strong engines.
HW claimed in a reply that the CB engine room is a club, and as such has rules by which members must abide by and if he ever catches someone using these methods to avoid detection then he will immediately delete those accounts no buts or what ifs allowed and you can say goodbye to your sub.

[kingliveson]

I just ordered mine, and ran a small tournament.

[Jeremy Bernstein]

I have to admit to being somewhat flabbergasted. Just 3 days ago I wrote that no one should expect major changes in the computer chess political landscape, and in a mere 72 hours, CEGT and ChessBase have embraced some vague form of sanity. Rybkaforum's moderators seem to be in a mild state of shock, Graham Banks appears to be speechless (CCRL, tear down this wall!), Michael Diosi is saying "I told you so" (huh?!?!) and I am enjoying a tingly sense of inner satisfaction that there's a little less tyranny in this particular pocket of my life.

There's been no ringing of bells or beating of drums. An account on the CSS forum states that Holger Lieske merely said that no one will be punished anymore for using "them", and that was that. Who knows what caused the turnaround, though. Maybe Harvey will fill us in at some point when the smoke has cleared a bit.

Oh yeah, and in the last 72 hours Rolf has risen from the dead to remind me why I don't like reading Talkchess very much. No sunshine without a little rain, I guess...

Anyhow, congratulations, everyone. Let's see if the sanity sticks.

Jeremy

[Sean Evans]

Oh yeah, and in the last 72 hours Rolf has risen from the dead to remind me why I don't like reading Talkchess very much. No sunshine without a little rain, I guess...Jeremy

Why are you being disrespectful to the Pope?

[kingliveson]

This is getting embarrassing. Do I need to spell out A B C? Let's see if hiarcs forum mods bite...

[Uly]

Rybkaforum's moderators seem to be in a mild state of shock

And a good state that is, going by the precedents I truly expected a carnage of deletion and censorship, instead, the old posted CEGT updates were allowed to stay, and they haven't censored the word "playchess" (there's even a thread about this at Computer Chess), perhaps that forum still has hopes of being like Open Chess

[Jeremy Bernstein]

This is getting embarrassing. Do I need to spell out A B C? Let's see if hiarcs forum mods bite...

Typical puerile, "oh I was just asking a simple question" post from Mr. Banks, intended to "embarrass" CEGT in light of their decision to test Houdini. And in light of the developments a couple of hours later on PlayChess, even dumber-sounding than usual. I forecast ugly backlashes on HIARCS and Rybka fora for a while, although that post with the word "Houdini" has been there for 4 days now. Harvey might be too pissed off right now to want to deal with it, though, or maybe he considers it a warning signpost to innocent users who might otherwise be corrupted by brain-searingly dangerous information, like how well computer chess engines play games against each other.