At the moment I am not going to name names but I am going to explain why I received this email.In the present situation the CSVN-board has no other option than to ask you not to attend CSVN-events in the future.
A member of the CSVN board told me last week in Leiden that he had entered an, official, online tournament with a cracked copy of the latest Junior that was sent to him by a friend in Brazil. I was astounded by this. Surely members of the board of a Computer Chess Association should lead by example and not use cracked software? I told the board member that I was appalled by his actions. 1) As someone who is totally against the use of cracked commercial software. 2) As Junior is sold by www.Hiarcs.com 3) As a www.Playchess.com Sys op because the online tournament is being played there. Normally this would lead to sanctions being taken on Playchess. I decided just to say that the cracked version must not be used again on Playchess.
After making my feelings known the person concerned then contacted Mark to ask for a free Junior 12 licence. Mark replied that on this occasion he was not prepared to supply one. If the person had asked before using the cracked version we would of course have supplied a licence.
Some emails were then exchanged between Mark, Amir and the person concerned. I was also cc'd. After a couple of days the person concerned was sent a free Junior licence, although we had not received a clear apology. I really thought that would be the end of the matter. I have had no conversation with the person concerned since this email exchange began.
Then to my surprise I receive an email banning me from CSVN events. An email that raises a couple of questions.
1) What has this got to do with the CSVN board at all? It certainly has nothing to do with the Leiden tournament. An individual who happens to be a board member used cracked software emailed to him by a friend in Brazil.
2) Were the board made fully aware of the facts before allowing this decision to be taken in their name? It now appears as if the entire board supports the use of cracked commercial Chess software. I am sure this is not true
I replied to the CSVN board saying that I would give them 24 hours to respond to me or I will go public. I have heard nothing and 24 hours has now passed. I do not want to publish the emails in full but I will do if a speedy resolution to this situation is not found by the CSVN. This really does seem like 1 member of the board totally abusing his position by somehow convincing the other members that this is a matter for them to get involved with. I am sure the facts were not presented correctly to the board.
The conversation took place over Dinner on Thursday evening before the Dutch Open tournament, in Leiden, began. In my opinion this has nothing to do with the board. It was a shame the persons wife was there and that she felt insulted by the conversation I had with her husband, for that I apologise.