Originally posted by no1marauderYou just seemed overly sensitive about it. Thats all.
I've spoken up before when I thought people were banned unjustly. Why are you making a big deal about me doing so in this case?
I rarely talked to Skeets and never played her, but she was a long term member of the site who made significant contributions. It's seems absurd to ban her just because SC and the gals at Metallica got their panties in a bunch because she took seriously what one of them said supposedly in jest.
If you're joining this thread late, allow me to summarize:
1. Skeeter was banned for abuse on the boards, not for engine use.
2. Whether or not Skeeter was an engine user is still a hotly contested issue.
3. There are no facts on the internet.
4. The rules are the rules, even if they are bad rules.
5. Skeeter threads are the best.
I admit I was not a fan of Skeeter's forum style on occasion, and suspicious of everyone who was ever on the front page after a few years of watching them come and go. Still, I did enjoy her chess related posts immensely and after looking through her games I did enjoy the style of chess too. I was burned by the Weyerstrass ban though - I was a fan, and felt his playing was "human" as I played through the games, so hard to not be doubtful. This is why people who are willing to do what GP (and others I know) does are so valuable here - real chess, talked about by human players, ideas and concepts, swindles and missed shots. Takes time to do it, takes effort to move the pieces around and come up with ideas. This makes the forum work for me. In the end, I don't so much care about who is on that page any more, I'd rather see the next Velvet Ears Morgski battle WITH annotations no less. When I have time I try to do the same, post something that struck me as cool, or shows a little idea that might win a game later. All you independently wealthy and retired chess fanatics out there, get busy writing up some games for me to read on my breaks 🙂
Originally posted by SmittyTime1. How do you know that for sure?
If you're joining this thread late, allow me to summarize:
1. Skeeter was banned for abuse on the boards, not for engine use.
2. Whether or not Skeeter was an engine user is still a hotly contested issue.
3. There are no facts on the internet.
4. The rules are the rules, even if they are bad rules.
5. Skeeter threads are the best.
Skeets was banned for persitant personal attacks.
Though to be fair I think most people felt they were nobody till Skeets
had a pop at them. You knew you had arrived if the lady whacked you.
I have seen the banning note from Russ to Skeeter. It came via email (not a PM).
Russ warned her in Spetember to stop - she did for a while but skeets
being skeets (bless her) fell into a forum trap.
ChessPaxis is NOT Ironman - if he was then Skeets 'attack' would have held water.
The more she attacked him - the more she was sucked in.
All it required then for the Metalica clan to submit FTP's v Skeets.
Russ had no choice. He had issued a warning. He had to act on the FTP's.
So she is gone.
In time honoured fashion the phrase: 'Good Riddence' does not apply.
There will now be a hole, a blank post where Skeeters sharp acid wit would
have fitted in perfectly.
Yes she could be cruel but did you see some of the stuff that was aimed at her.
A woman for Christ sake. I bet some of those remarks cut deep.
But she came back and gave as good as she got.
(I wonder how many FTP's she raised against a flaming - none?)
Eight years she was here. Kicking and screaming, yet being funny and helpful
when she wanted to be.
Eight years.
She is now alone, sitting on a small island in the South Pacific most likely
reading this and perhaps wondering why so many people disliked her.
You cannot blame the site admin but one does get the feeling that
a butterfly has been broken on a wheel.
She is a chess player. Please don't forget that.
Originally posted by no1marauderAs per my email to you (and so everyone knows what objective criteria were used):
From my PM to you entitled "You're on";
Mine is (deleted for obvious reasons).
A brief description of how said games were "objectively chosen" would help. I don't have Houdini and fail to see why such an exotic and little used engine is preferable.
no1
They were the 20 then most recently completed games vs RHP 2000+ rateds as of November 2010 which were found to have a minimum of 20 non-database moves.
Houdini was used because
a) I've performed an awful lot of benchmark analysis with it
b) It's the most powerful engine out there
c) It refuses to freeze during batch analysis, unlike say Shredder or Stockfish for instance
Maybe skeeter isn't that far away or maybe it's just a coincidence that shortly after skeeter was banned, her niece User 46842 started playing after more than a year's absence. Seems odd. You would think that if a chess site banned someone's aunt that the last thing that person would do is start playing on that site again.
Originally posted by greenpawn34Of all the accusations thrown at that Skeeter, I have to say the most outrageous is "lady."
Skeets was banned for persitant personal attacks.
Though to be fair I think most people felt they were nobody till Skeets
had a pop at them. You knew you had arrived if the lady whacked you.
I have seen the banning note from Russ to Skeeter. It came via email (not a PM).
Russ warned her in Spetember to stop - she did for a while but skeets
bein ...[text shortened]... utterfly has been broken on a wheel.
She is a chess player. Please don't forget that.
I spend most of a thread defending the sparkling example of humanity from accusations of cheating. Give her the benefit of the doubt, etc. I said.
Somebody posts a thread about a three-way tie, and I typed "let the best cheat win 🙂."
Since I had spent post after post defending Skeeter on a thread just earlier, I was under the assumption that the sarcasm would be grasped.
Of course, it wasn't. Thus my profile quote.
Just desserts I say.
Skeeter may have been a good player, but she contributed nothing chesswise to this forum.
Originally posted by greenpawn34Given that she didn't get involved in chess discussions - despite being a frequent forum poster - then we'd be exused for forgetting.
She is a chess player. Please don't forget that.
This in itself proves nothing but it didn't give credibility to what it takes to be a top RHP player. Other top players either never post (fair enough) or occasionally show some chess understanding. I know you gave some reasons but I always found it strange - not absolute proof of cheating but strange nonetheless.