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Who is the youngest editor of chessvariants?

Maybe I am.

You're not an editor. You're a contributor. An editor has the power to edit and approve contributions made by other people. Editors are much fewer in number, and among active editors, I believe that Ben is the youngest.

Small question. Who is the youngest editor of chessvariants?

Maybe I am.

Joe,

I don't know the age of every editor, but among those I do, you are the oldest. Hans and I were both born in the 60s, and David was born in the 50s, but you were born in the 40s just a bit before my youngest aunt and uncle. So, thank you for sticking with being an editor here for so long.

Many editors here have not been programmers, because editing is a different task than programming, and non-programmers can also do it. The main advantage that programming can bring to editing is that people with experience programming Chess variants will be more sensitive to gaps, inconsistencies, or ambiguities in the rules of games, as programmers need to understand a game fully in order to program it. But it also comes with the drawback that they may rather spend their time programming than editing. There is a reason why I have chosen the title of Webmaster rather than Editor-in-Chief, as Hans and David had used before me. So, it's good to have editors who are not as focused on programming as some of us are and are willing to take the time to read and edit new submissions.

This past weekend I was up in Boston with the family to celebrate 2 birthdays. Saturday our grandson was 1 year old, and Monday I was 75. And while I don't want my name removed from the editors' list, it's more than time to put "retired" next to it. I haven't been an active editor for some time now. And I don't program. All the other editors do. I originally volunteered not because I thought I was qualified but because no one else had volunteered and somebody had to do it or watch the site fade. I'm very happy to see it hasn't faded.

Being a member of this site has been a lot of fun, and while being an editor has been a lot of work, I learned a lot about game design during the time. I continue to design, but have expanded my areas of interest. Still, every time I think I'm done with chess variants, something drags me back. Maybe one of these times, I'll get chesimals right.

I've met a lot of good designers, made a fair number of friends and acquaintances, and stepped on a few toes. For the damaged digits, I apologize. For all the others, thank you. I cannot begin to mention names, because there are so many people it would be daylight in New York before I finished. And no matter how hard I tried, I'd leave out a few. It's been a fascinating time. I've met an amazing range of interesting people, in all senses of the word. I feel quite fortunate.