Chess Oscar

In 1967, Spanish journalist Jorge Puig Laborda (1928-1989) of Barcelona, and the Association Internationale de la Presse Echiqueenne (International Association of Chess Journalists or AIPE) created what is known as the Chess Oscar. It is an international award given annually to the best and most entertaining chess player that year. The winner is selected by votes that are cast by chess journalists from around the world. The voting procedure is to request accredited chess journalists to submit a list of the ten best players of the year. The award itself currently takes the form of a bronze statuette representing a man in a boat and called “The Fascinated Wanderer.” The statuatte used to be a lady standing underneath an umbrella. Now the statuette is named after a character drawn from the 19^th century novelist Nikolai Leskov’s most famous work. The prizes were awarded from 1967 until 1988. Puig died in 1989 and the Chess Oscar was stopped for several years. In 1995, it was resumed by 64, the Russian chess magazine. Its editor-in-chief is Mark Glukhovsky. The first Chess Oscar went to Grandmaster Bent Larsen in 1967 for his four tournament wins that year. The award ceremony was held in Madrid, Spain.

Winners:

1967 Bent Larsen

1968 Boris Spassky

1969 Boris Spassky

1970 Bobby Fischer

1971 Bobby Fischer

1972 Bobby Fischer

1973 Anatoly Karpov

1974 Anatoly Karpov

1975 Anatoly Karpov

1976 Anatoly Karpov

1977 Anatoly Karpov

1978 Viktor Korchnoi

1979 Anatoly Karpov

1980 Anatoly Karpov

1981 Anatoly Karpov

1982 Gary Kasparov

1983 Gary Kasparov

1984 Anatoly Karpov

1985 Gary Kasparov

1986 Gary Kasparov

1987 Gary Kasparov

1988 Gary Kasparov

1995 Gary Kasparov

1996 Gary Kasparov

1997 Viswanathan Anand

1998 Viswanathan Anand

1999 Gary Kasparov

2000 Vladimir Kramnik

2001 Gary Kasparov

2002 Gary Kasparov

2003 Viswanathan Anand

2004 Viswanathan Anand

2005 Veselin Topalov

2006 Vladimir Kramnik

2007 Viswanathan Anand

2008 Viswanathan Anand

2009 Magnus Carlsen

2010 Magnus Carlsen

2011 Magnus Carlsen

2012 Magnus Carlsen

The 2012 Chess Oscar was decided in June 2013. It was based on Carlsen’s 2012 results:

2^nd place in Tata Steel Tournament

1^st at Tal Memorial

2^nd at the World Rapid Chess Championship

1^st at Grand Masters Final

Highest chess rating, surpassing Kasparov’s best historical mark

1^st at the 4^th London Chess Classic.

6-time Oscar winner Vishy Anand said this of the Chess Oscars, “Winning the Oscars gives you the satisfaction that people have appreciated your games. In the years when the World Championship didn’t happen, the Oscars gave a sense of order in the chess world.”

Another category of the Chess Oscar is best woman. Judit Polgar has won the women’s Chess Oscar 8 times.