IM John Donaldson at the 2010 World Team Championship, Photo Tony Rich for CCSCSL
The #5 article in Best of CLO 2010 is 2010 Chess Olympiad: Final Impressions by IM John Donaldson. Judges praised John's writing style and his thought-provoking analysis of the future of the Olympic team.
John wrote two other CLO pieces during the Olympiad on his First Impressions and on the FIDE Presidential Elections. There was also a follow-up to his Final Impressions piece on CLO, covering readers comments and his reactions.
IM John Donaldson is the chess director at the Mechanics Institute, where he organizes events and publishes a weekly newsletter. He has been the captain of numerous medal-earning American teams, including the 2010 World Team silver medal squad.
John is also the author of many books, including The Life and Games of Akiva Rubinstein- Uncrowned King and A Legend of the Road- Bobby Fischer's 1964 Simul Tour. See an index of his books at USCF Sales.
The Judges Sound Off
Read more about the judges here.
This article fulfilled every one of my judging criteria with style. The chess content is superb, Donaldson's writing is thoughtul and precise, the educational value is significant, the interest and enjoyability factors are very high, and the topic is important -- how to maintain a strong US presence in future olympiads, and develop our country's talent base. Donaldson caps his role as the team coach with a perfectly executed article, then turns his heartfelt coaching concern toward the rest of the United States and its chess future—Damian Nash
Great coverage and analysis. The topic at the end of the article was a bit depressing, but the analysis and insights were as good as in any article this year--Michael Cornett
IM John Donaldson shared a day by day, round by round, account of the up-and-down performance by the USA Olympiad team. A large selection of games, many with light comments, highlighted the best games and key positions of the tournament. Team captain Donaldson not only reported on the Americans, but also followed the hunt for the medals between Ukraine, Russia, Israel and others . The article concluded with some thought-provoking concerns about the future of the USA team as the current players become older—Michael "f-pawn" Aigner
Useful overview of Olympiad with well-selected moments—Arne Moll
Best of CLO 2010 Countdown
#5- 2010 Chess Olympiad: Final Impressions by IM John Donaldson
#6-the US Chess School Comes to Seattle Part I and Part II by Michael Yang. (Judging article)
#7- The US Championship in Black and White by GM Joel Benjamin (Judging article)
#8-Adamson on IM Norm #2 at the North American Masters by Robby Adamson (Judging article)
#9-The Sicilian Slayed by GM Gregory Kaidanov (Judging article)
#10- Hilton on Not Winning the Pan Ams by Jonathan Hilton (Judging article)