Best of CLO 2007-#1 |
February 8, 2008 | |
The number one article in CLO's Best of 2007 competition is GM Jesse
Kraai's "East Bay Fight Club." Judges praised the original prose,
creative metaphors and insight into Kraai's second GM result. When Jesse won his third and final GM norm a few months later at the Foxwoods Open, he was the cover star and interview subject in the July 07 Chess Life Magazine. He also wrote a Chess Life column for "In the Arena." Jesse is also a popular coach on chesslecture.com. The judges sound off To learn more about the judges, read "Meet the Judges." "The newly-crowned GM easily had the best prose of any article. He encapsulated the feel of the chess club with well-crafted metaphors and pulsing emotion. When describing GM Yermolinsky's frustration of playing out an obvious draw, he invited the reader into the tournament hall for the spectacle. Kraai articulated the Oakland chess scene with vivid details."- Michael Klein "Quite an entertaining tourney report which managed to give a nice look back on the tourney along with providing some funny side anecdotes."-Arun Sharma "Nice imagery by Kraai, mixing different sports to make chess seem like boxing and poking fun at the difference between the staid world of organized chess and the chaotic world of what we might call 'underground chess.'"- Michael Atkins "Regional reporting, such as Kraai's, should be seen often on CLO." - Alexey Root The countdown, recapped below, is now over. Thanks to the judges, the writers and the readers. May 2008 bring as many good articles as 2007 did! Top Ten articles of 2007 1. East Bay Fight Club by Jesse Kraai 2. Onischuk on Biel Tiebreak by Alexander Onischuk-Read judges' thoughts. 3. Diary of a Samford Scholar , Part I and Part II . by Josh Friedel Read judges' thoughts. 4.E Vicary's Top 10 Teaching Books by Elizabeth Vicary- Read judges' thoughts. 5.E.Vicary on Chess, Girls and Genius by Jennifer Shahade- Read judges' thoughts. 6. The $50,000 game by Greg Shahade- Read judges' thoughts. 7.Irina Blogs from Gibraltar by Irina Krush- Read judges' thoughts. 8.Greg on Chess:The Swiss is Terrible by Greg Shahade- Read judges' thoughts. 9.Pruess Wins GM Norm in France, Part I and Part II. by Josh Friedel - Read judges' thoughts. 10. How Wojo Won: The Sicilian by Jonathan Hilton- Read judges' thoughts. |