This thread is for discussing the article Why Do Judges Exist? by Jason Flatford.

Great great great article! One of the best this year!

Thanks for the kind words.

This is a very well written piece. I believe this a sound philosophical approach to why we judge, and I think that it all boils down to the “But mostly we do it because someone has to.” - IMO, this is a very valid and valuable perspective.
Also, as a bonus, it introduced me to “Collin Jackson's Push in Chairs”, which is also very good, so you thank you for both!

Thanks for the great article. I can't always be absolutely sure about every ruling, but I can always be thinking about what I can be doing to make the tournament experience better…including thinking about how a particular ruling might make the tournament experience better (for everyone, of course, including the players directly affected by the ruling). I especially appreciate the support for my sometimes apparently compulsive trash-picking-up behavior.