Chess Oscar was an international award given annually to the best chess player. The winner was selected by votes that were cast by chess journalists from across the world. The traditional voting procedure was to request hundreds of chess journalists from many countries to submit a list of the ten best players of the year. The voters were journalists who knew the game and followed it closely, and so the honor was highly prized. The award itself took the form of a bronze statuette representing a man in a boat.[1] The prize was created and awarded in 1967 by Spanish journalist Jorge Puig, and the International Association of Chess Press (AIPE). The awards were given from 1967 until 1988. Then, after a pause, they resumed in 1995, and were then organized by the Russian chess magazine 64[2][3] until 2014.
The Oscar for the best women chess player of the year was established in 1982.[4][5][a]
Statuette
editThe statuette's final form, a man in a boat, was carved by the sculptor Alexander Smirnov. It represented a figure known as "The Fascinated Wanderer", which refers to a short story written in 1873 by 19th-century Russian author Nikolai Leskov. In this story, the title character,MLK, is a horse trainer and a brute of a man. From his birth his mother has promised that Ivan's life would be devoted to the church. Ivan spends many years avoiding this fate, but eventually gives in and becomes a monk, not for spiritual reasons, but due to a poverty of opportunity.[8]
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The Chess Oscar statuette originally took the form of "The Lady of the Umbrella", a figure based on a statue in Parc de la Ciutadella in Barcelona, Spain.[9][10][3]
Winners
editWomen
editFirst era
Year Player Country 1982 Nona Gaprindashvili 
Soviet Union
1983 Pia Cramling[23][4] 
Sweden
1984 Maya Chiburdanidze Soviet Union
1985 Maya Chiburdanidze[5] Soviet Union
1986 Maya Chiburdanidze Soviet Union
1987 Maya Chiburdanidze Soviet Union
1988 Judit Polgár[7] 
Hungary
Second era
Judit Polgár won five more Women's Oscars (1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, and 2002) in the second period of the awards.[7]
By person
editPlayer Country Wins Garry Kasparov Soviet Union, later 
Russia11 Anatoly Karpov Soviet Union9 Viswanathan Anand 
India6 Magnus Carlsen 
Norway5 Bobby Fischer 
United States3 Boris Spassky Soviet Union2 Vladimir Kramnik Russia2 Bent Larsen 
Denmark1 Viktor Korchnoi 
Switzerland1 Veselin Topalov 
Bulgaria1
By nation
editCountry Wins Soviet Union17 Russia7 India6 Norway5 United States3 Bulgaria1 Denmark1 Switzerland1
Notes
edit- ^ This award is not related to the more recent FIDE Caissa Award, established in 2009,[6] occasionally referenced also as a Women Chess Oscar.[7]
References
edit- ^ "Chess "Oscar" to Veselin Topalov". 64.ru. 2006-04-30. Archived from the original on 2013-09-20. Retrieved 2014-11-22.
- ^ Hill, Tata McGraw. General Knowledge Digest 2010. Tata McGraw Hill Education Private Limited. 2010
- ^ a b "Oscar of the Chess - SpeedyLook encyclopedia". Myetlmology.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b "Ten Highlights in the Life and Career of Chess Grandmaster Pia Cramling". Chess News. 2023-04-23. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
- ^ a b Segura, Joan (1986-03-04). "Los "Oscars" del tablero" (PDF). Mundo Deportivo. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
- ^ Alexandra Kosteniuk. "Caissa and Golden Organizer Award". Retrieved 2023-05-04.
- ^ a b c "Biography". Judit Polgar official website. Outstanding awards and recognitions. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
- ^ Leskov, Nikolai. The Enchanted Wanderer: Selected Tales, Modern Library Classics, 2003. ISBN 0-8129-6696-1
- ^ "ICC Weekly Newsletter. Vol. 3. Issue 22. May 30, 2008". Chessclub.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
- ^ "Postcard ES-107923: Lady with umbrella - Citadel Park - Barcelona, Spain From carronada". Postcrossing.com. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
- ^ Kasparov wins 2002 Chess Oscar, ChessBase News, 9-May-2003
- ^ Anand wins Chess Oscar for third time, rediff.com, 6-May-2004
- ^ Anand wins third Chess Oscar, ChessBase News, 8-May-2004
- ^ Chess Oscar 2005 for Veselin Topalov, ChessBase News, 30-April-2006
- ^ Chess Oscar 2006, The Week in Chess 654, 21-May-2007
- ^ Anand Wins Chess Oscars for 2007, ChessBase News, 8-May-2008
- ^ “Oscar” prize to be brought to Baku for the first time! Archived 2011-08-23 at the Wayback Machine, APA News, 21 Apr 2009, access date 2009-04-22.
- ^ And the 2009 Oscar goes to ... Magnus Carlsen! Archived 2013-12-04 at the Wayback Machine, Chessvibes November 17, 2010.
- ^ Carlsen beats Anand to 2010 Chess Oscar Archived 2012-06-18 at the Wayback Machine, Why Chess, 29 Jul 2011.
- ^ Oscar 2011 - Magnus Carlsen, ChessPro, 2 Nov 2012.
- ^ Oscar 2012 - Magnus Carlsen, Chess-news-ru, 12 Jun 2013.
- ^ Oscar 2013 - Magnus Carlsen, Natalia Pogonina on Twitter, 29 Nov 2014.
- ^ "The chess games of Pia Cramling". www.chessgames.com. Retrieved 2023-05-04.
External links
edit- Los Oscar del ajedrez español, winners of the Spanish categories of the award and photos