BB+ wrote:syzygy wrote:I'm not sure why you added the "however" sentence. Do you think it takes something away from the preceding sentence?
It was probably just me being cynical, having seen (certainly in academia) how organisations can often be certain to meet various rules and procedures while at the same time doing so just as a formality, with no real intent therein other than to keep up appearances (in the extreme, the accused will refer to these methods as "Kafkaesque", and indeed might "boycott" the process the same way that the presumptive losers in South American elections will "boycott" the polls so as not to lend legitimacy --- it is not always easy to differentiate between actual fraudulence and a self-fulfilling prophecy). Or to phrase it after-the-factly: even if the ICGA had done everything by-the-book, Rajlich and his representatives would simply find something else to chatter about. [On the other hand, I do agree that as a professional organisation, the ICGA should be (much) more attuned to formalities].
Levy's lifetime ban [properly the ICGA's lifetime ban, though I think my phrasing here is closer to reality] was quite a surprise to me when it was announced, and largely seemed like publicity to me (furthering his imitation of "Olympian" ideas), though as I already said back in 2011, if Rajlich isn't interested in competing in future events, as a practical matter the issue is essentially moot. Perhaps too my upbringing in the US leads me to think that a "lifetime ban" (or the more severe "permanent ban") is usually a misnomer, indeed the Wikipedia page on
baseball bannings explicitly mentions:
Terms such as "lifetime ban" and "permanent ban" are misnomers, as a banned person may be reinstated (i.e., have the ban removed) on the decision of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball, and in the case of Hall of Fame induction the ban can extend beyond a person's lifetime.
There are also ways of enforcing a "lifetime" ban without making it explicit. For instance, in 2008 Levy
rejected the entry of KCC Paduk due to:
past problems with [this] program in other computer Go tournaments, which dated back almost a decade (see the last paragraph before 1.1
here for more info and links to the evidence). Another example is Gian-Carlo Pascutto, who is a
persona non grata over a dispute on whether he should have paid the commercial entry fee one year (the ICGA is demanding the difference of 250 euros I think, and he won't pay it, and thus would not be allowed to compete until this is resolved [he was partially interested in entering Sjeng in Tilburg 2011] -- undoubtedly a similar point would be made over Rajlich's 2010 prize monies).
syzygy wrote:So, if the suggestion that "the MAIN thing wrong" is that "it did NOT come from Vas", then I am still puzzled by that suggestion.
I am not going to put words in hyatt's mouth, but it seems that the "formal" issue of Schröder acting as Rajlich's representative could be considered the "MAIN" thing for the EC vis-a-vis Rajlich's appeal and the ICGA's possible ethical violations therein. However, I would think this would be remedied by the email of Oct 5. Levy, on the other hand, ignored any formalities, and already on Aug 27 stated (to Schröder) that no appeal was possible, and reiterated this to Rajlich on Oct 6. The stated reasons for the denial of appeal are predicated upon Rajlich's previous aloofness (and implicitly the lack of higher authority than the ICGA Board to which to address the appeal), but I might say that this is making the issue a bit terse: the side issues of
repeated badgering (by Schröder) for the appeal, and moreover the lack of any citation of remotely viable grounds for the appeal -- both of these likely had some role in Levy's decision/wording.
Incidentally on the webpage for correspondence regarding the appeal one finds:
Ed Schröder (representing Vasik Rajlich) wrote:As evidence for that consider Mark Watkins remarks during the programmer meeting in Japan (2013) when he said, "The LOOP case is not so clear", he considered his previous statements as wrong and changed his mind.
This is simply false: I never said the quoted words (in any context AFAIK, and certainly not in comparison to Rybka/Fruit); furthermore they do not represent my opinion; and finally I consider my previous statements to be correct and have not "changed my mind." If these were put forth by Rajlich (through his representative) as grounds for an appeal [Oct 6 email to Levy], I would consider it to be a deliberate mischaracterisation.
Chris Whittington wrote:And Levy should resign.
Wouldn't it have been easier to just buy out the ICGA election?

It's got to be what, something like 50-100 votes at 40 euros a membership? Surely there's enough Rybka forum acolytes who would sign up for this... and as a bonus you could now revoke Hyatt's 1983/86 Championships! Sadly, the deadline for 2015 election candidates passed a few days before the EC decision arrived.
