Chess Journalists of America Awards
By Jonathan Hilton   
August 24, 2009
alexlead250.jpg
GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, and 2009 Chess Journalist of the Year , Photo Vladimir Shirokov
Browse through the winning submissions in the June 2008-May 2009 Chess Journalists of America awards. The list includes pdf downloads of winning articles, prepared by chief judge Jonathan Hilton.

The CJA Journalist of the Year is GM and Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk.  Evidence of Kosteniuk's endless enthusiasm for journalism, including social media, can be found by following her on twitter , her official website, her youtube station, her podcast, Chess Killer Tips and her new chess blog! 

Alexandra has been promoting chess frequently this year in America, at her chess school in Miami, at the SuperNationals and the U.S. Open! She will be continuing this trend by giving a simul at the 2009 K-12 Nationals (Dallas, Texas, Dec.10-13- more details coming soon).

Check out the CJA website for more details on these awards,
and the organization. Also look for more news on the Fred Cramer Award for the Book of the Year sponsored by the U.S. Chess Federation, the Chess Journalists of America, and the U.S. Chess Trust. This year's book of the year is Blindfold Chess by Eliot Hearst and John Knott.

Chess Life Magazine, Chess Life for Kids and Chess Life Online won many awards, including best tournament report, historical article, art and website, which makes this a good time to remind you to sign up for the CLO RSS!

Jonathan Hilton also noted, three additions to the list below,

Cat 5, Best Chess Art


HM’s to “The Many Faces of the New U.S. Champion” by Frankie Butler (22.6/30) and “The McCain Gambit” by R.Reynolds (22.4/30.0).

 

Cat 6, Best Chess Photograph


“Viktors Pupols” by Philip Petersen won with 29.0/30.0
HM’s to “de gib bang” by Philip Petersen with 28.0/30.0 and “The King Slap Heard Round the World” by B. Dynako with 25.0/30.0

Cat 8, Best Newspaper Column


Local Award to “Chess: A Knight's Tour” (Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel) by Bill Cornwall with 15.5/30.0.
With no further ado, the winners are...

Category 1 ... Chess Journalist of the Year  (by CJA vote)
Alexandra Kosteniuk (see the Nominating Statement)
Runner up: Dan Heisman

Category 2 ... Best Chess Column
Place Entry Score
1st Chess to Enjoy by GM Andy Soltis, Chess Life Jan-Mar 2009
         Jan 2009 page1, p2, Feb 2009 p1, p2, Mar 2009 p1, p2
28.6/30
2nd "Novice Nook" by NM Dan Heisman on Chess Cafe site: Col 1, Col 2, Col 3 28.4/30
3rd My Favorite King and Pawn Endings for Students by Pete Tamburro, Chess Life for Kids
         
June 2008, August 2008, October 2008
27.0/30
LOC Vigorito on Chess (Chess Horizons) by David Vigorito Oct-Dec 2008Jan-March 2009April-June 2009 24.7/30

Category 3 ... Best State Magazine
Place Entry Score
1st  Northwest Chess, Editor Ralph Dubisch – March 2009, April 2009 27.3/30
HM Chess Horizons, Editor Mark Donlan - Jan-Mar 2009, April-June 2009 27.1/30

Category 4 ... Most Notable Achievement In Correspondence Chess
Place Entry Score
1st 2005 Electronic Knights by FM Alex Dunne, Chess Life April 2009, page 30, page 31, page 32 27.5/30

Category 5 ... Best Chess Art
Place Entry Score
1st Zaria, Chess Life for KidsFeb 2009, April 2009, June 2009 ??

Category 6 ... Best Chess Photograph
Place Entry Score
1st Northwest Chess, cover March 2009– Viktors Pupols cover, photo by Philip Peterson ??
HM Northwest Chess, September 2008 – de gib bang by Philip Peterson ??

Category 7 ... Best Tournament Report
Place Entry Score
1st Anand's Army by Jerry Hanken, Chess Life Oct 2008 page 16, p.17, p.18, p.19, p.20, p.21 25.9/30
2nd Living on Tulsa Time (U. S. Championship) by Tom Braunlich,
Chess Life
August 2008 p 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24
25.3/30
3rd Teeming Chess: The 2009 U.S. Amateur Team Events by Jonathan Hilton,
Chess Life May 2009 p 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33
25.2/30
4th Bronze Times Two by FM Mike Klein,
Chess Life
February 2009 p 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42
25.1/30
5th Yeager Has the Right Stuff by FM Mike Klein,
Chess Life
August 2008 p 32, 33, 34, 35, 36
24.0/30

Category 8 ... Best Regular Newspaper Column
Place Entry Score
1st Chess by David R. Sands The Washington Times 22.7/30

Category 9 ... Best Chess Web Site
Place Entry Score
1st Chess Life Online by Jennifer Shahade 26.7/30
Best State ChessMaine, Daniel C. DeLuca 23.3/30
LOC The UTB/TSC Chess team and the Scorpion Chess Club blog by Luciana Morales Mandoza 19.3/30

Category 10 ... Best Historical Article
Place Entry Score
1st York vs. Philadelphia: The 1858 Telegraph Match by Neil Brennen,
         Chess Life June 2008, p 36, 37, 38, 39, 40
24.5/30

Category 11 ... Best Interview
Place Entry Score
1st Interview with an American Medallist: IM Sam Shankland, Chess Life Online Dec. 6, 2008 by Jennifer Shahade and Sam Shankland 37.9/40
LOC The Man Behind Forcing Chess Moves, Chess Horizons Oct-Dec 2008 by Edwin Lam 27.3/40

Category 12 ... Best Editorial
Place Entry Score
1-2 (tie) From the Editor’s Desk by Ralph Dubisch, Northwest Chess 23.5/30
In Partial Defense of Chess Book Publishers, Chess Horizons July-Sept 2008 by Howard Goldowsky 23.5/30

Category 13 ... Best Review
Place Entry Score
1st Modern Chess Openings, 15th Edition by GM Alexander Shabalov, Chess Life Sept 2008 p 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 28.9/30
HM Positional Self-Training by Dennis Monokroussos, Chess Horizons Oct-Dec 2008 28.0/30

Category 14 ... Best Analysis
Place Entry Score
1st The Endgame Bind from Novice Nook (Chess Café) by Dan Heisman 27.5/30
2nd Kosteniuk Annotates by Alexandra Kosteniuk, Chess Horizons Jan-March 2009 26.5/30
3-4 (tie) Ivanov Annotates by Alexander Ivanov, Chess Horizons Oct-Dec 2008 25.9/30
Anders’ Game from Novice Nook (Chess Café) by Dan Heisman 25.9/30

Category 15 ... Best Instructive Lesson
Place Entry Score
1st Novice Nook 100: The Best Novice Nook Ideas from Novice Nook (Chess Café) by Dan Heisman 22.0/30
HM Forcing Sequences, the key to better calculation by FM Charles Hertan, Chess Life August 2008 p 42, 43, 44 21.0/30

Category 16 ... Best Humorous Contribution
Place Entry Score
1st  Mate the Beatles (Paired...) by Bob Basalla, Ohio Chess Connection, Nov/Dec 2008 33.5/40
HM The Fogarty View, by Joe Fogarty, May/June 2008 Ohio Chess Connection 33.0/40
HM Pascal on His Big Win in Bermuda, Chess Life Online Feb. 7, 2009 by GM Pascal Charbonneau 31.5/40

Category 17 ... Special Recognition Award
Place Entry Score
1st Where Have You Gone, Rachels, Shaked & Rao? by FM Mike Klein, Chess Life Sept 2008, p 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 27.5/30

Category 18 ... Excellence in Chess Writing, Mainstream Media
Place Entry Score
1st  Chessidim by Josh Lipowsky The Jewish Standard, July 11, 2008 19.5/20

Other Recognitions:
Place Entry Score
  Who Dares Wins by GM Ian Rogers, Chess Life May 2009 p 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27