CHESS JOURNALISTS OF AMERICA

2012 Award Winners

Congratulations to this year’s CJA Award Winners!

Joshua Anderson, CJA Awards Committee Chairman & Chief Judge, has provided the following list of awards for the 2012 competition for best chess journalism, as announced at the annual CJA meeting on 10 August 2012.

Prize List for 2012 CJA Awards

Features
Best Features Article
Winner: The Awonder Years – Brad Rosen – Chess Life – April 2012    

Best Humorous Contribution
Winner: Bobby Fischer’s Shoes, or The Absolute Truth by Mark Taylor – Georgia Chess – May/June 2012    

Best Instructive Lesson
Winner: I Don’t Know What to Do? by NM Dan Heisman – Novice Nook, ChessCafe.com    

Best Review
Winner: GM Joel Benjamin for review of New York 1927 by Alexander Alekhine – Chess Life – December, 2011    

Layout
Best Chess Magazine/Newsletter Layout
Winner: Chess Life, July 2011 – Daniel Lucas, editor    

Mainstream Media
Best Regular Newspaper Article of Local Interest
Winner: Forfeit by Disconnection Wins by Bill Cornwall – Los Angeles Times – March 11, 2012    
Honorable Mention: Aaron Wins State High School Championship with 6-0 Score at Saratoga Springs by Peter Henner    

Best Regular Newspaper Column
Winner: Americans Reach the Pinnacle by Bill Cornwall – Los Angeles Times – March 25, 2012    
Honorable Mention: Battle Between Teenage Grandmasters by Peter Henner – Altamont Enterprise, April 5, 2012    

Excellence in Chess Writing, Mainstream Media
New Media
Best Chess Blog
Winner: www.chessblog.com – GM Alexandra Kosteniuk    

Best General Chess Website
Winner: uschess.org    

Best USCF State Chapter Website
Winner: www.calchess.org    
Honorable Mention: www.masschess.org    

News
Best Tournament Report Article
Winner: Chess Burns in Iceland by Macauley Petersen – Chess Life – May, 2012    

News or Features
Best Analysis (correction 12-Sept_2012)
Winner (tie): Mikenas Benoni – IM Larry Evans and Cory Evans – Chess Life – September, 2011    
Winner (tie): Opposites Attract – David Vigorito – Chess Horizons – November, 2011    

Best Chess Art
Winner: Winding Down by Caroline Kaye – Chess Life – April 2012    
Honorable Mention: Chess in Isolation by Martin Bibbs – Chess Life – October 2011    

Best Historical Article
Winner: A Game of Considerable Ego Involvement by Neil Brennen – Chess Life – November, 2011    

Best Interview
Winner: Tale of a Winter Rating Spike: An Interview with Matthew Herman by WGM Jennifer Shahade – Chess Life Online    

Most Notable Achievement in Correspondence Chess
Winner: Brave New World: Human Intuition by Howard Sandler, Ph.D. and the Chessgames.com World Team – Chess Life – August, 2011    

Photojournalism
Best Chess Photojournalism
Winner: Krush/Seirawan – St. Louis Chess Club (no photographer named) –  Chess Life – July, 2011    

Top Five
Best Chess Column
Winner: Novice Nook by NM Dan Heisman – www.chesscafe.com    

Best State Magazine – Newsletter
Winner: Georgia Chess by Mark Taylor, et al.    

Best Story of the Year
Winner: “I Must Tell You …” by Al Lawrence – Chess Life – July, 2011    
Honorable Mention: Tenacious by Al Lawrence – Chess Life – January, 2012    

Chess Journalist of the Year
Winner: Mike Klein    

Best Book
Winner: The United States Chess Championship, 1845 – 2011 by GM Andy Soltis, published by McFarland Publishing