Edi Ersalesi Birsan (also known as Ed Birsan) is a Concord City councilmember (vice mayor in 2017 and mayor in 2018), a

game designer Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

, an independent business owner in the maritime container inspection industry, and one of the best-known American players of the game

Diplomacy Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. ...

. He was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

in 1949, but has resided in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

since 1981. Birsan is married and has two children.

Political career

In 2012, Birsan was elected to his first term for one of two open seats on the City Council of Concord, California, and was re-elected in 2016 and 2020. In 2021, Birsan ran for Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors for the District 4 seat unsuccessfully.

Gaming career

Birsan has been playing Diplomacy since 1965 at age 16 and has won many tournaments. He was the first non-South African to win the South African tournament, first non-Canadian to win the Canadian Championship, first non-Russian to win the Russian Championship and first non-European to win the European Championship. He ran the postal

zine A zine ( ; short for '' magazine'' or '' fanzine'') is a small-circulation self-published work of original or appropriated texts and images, usually reproduced via a copy machine. Zines are the product of either a single person or of a very s ...

''Arena'' from 1972 to 1975. He was a founder of several Diplomacy hobby organizations and consultant to

Avalon Hill Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company ...

on the rewrite of the rules of the game in 1999. He is best known for inventing the Lepanto. In 1969 and 1970 Birsan worked on the magazine '' Strategy and Tactics'' as associate and then managing editor. He was part of the design team of Poultron Press with James Dunnigan, participating in the design of games in 1969 and 1970: Normandy, Deployment, Flying Fortress, Italy and others. He was one of several designers of the Babylon 5 Collectible Card Game and the designer of the satirical card game Scandal. During the 1990s he took ownership of Legends (PBM), during which time Legends won the best Play By Mail

Game Manufacturers Association The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) is a non-profit trade association based in Columbus, Ohio, dedicated to the advancement of the non-electronic social games industry – Board/Tabletop Games, Miniatures Games, Card Games, Collectable/Tra ...

award.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Birsan, Edi 1949 births Diplomacy (game) Living people People from Brooklyn American game designers Mayors of places in California