Harvey,Harvey Williamson wrote: you admitted yourself you broke the rules. You did not kibitze to me during our game or why would I have mentioned it?
I think one should know when to stop. Mistakes happen.
An analogy is - not a very appropriate- I may add- is the comparison between an accidental homicide, a crime of passion and a cold blooded premeditated murder.
If it happened by accident ( you are driving your car, and suddenly a person jumps in front from no where)-->accidental homicide.
Crime of passion --> happened on the spur of the moment, without thinking about the consequences. Quoted from Wikipedia "because of sudden strong impulse such as a jealous rage or heartbreak".
Cold blooded premeditated murder---> An intentional, plotted scheme of things.
Leave Prof Bob out of this, as he is one of the most respected individuals, and his intent was NEVER ever to change the course of the game.
You may argue ad infinitum that he was wrong- but the severity of the two mistakes (and I think it was a non-intentional mistake made by both of you) is different.
Like you admitted, your intention was to try to change the outcome, but it had a negative impact on the outcome. Now my appeal to all those involved is, treat this as "accidental homicide" or "crime of passion" (depending on whether the rule was a sincere mistake or it was broken knowingly), and leave Hiarcs alone. Do not accuse Harvey of cheating- that is too harsh a word, and I am sure Hiarcs is too good an engine to try and attempt to get unfair advantage in a "cold-blooded premeditated" way.
And Prof, I did not know that the rules explicitly stated that you cannot change anything- as all tournaments have different rules. I though it was a convention which has been going around for the last twenty odd years.