2016 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 2016 competition for best chess journalism, as announced at the annual CJA meeting on 7 August 2016.
Prize List for 2016 CJA Awards
TOP FOUR:
Chess Journalist of the Year — Winner: Al Lawrence, nominated by US Chess
Best Story of the Year — Winner: The Struggle by Pete Karagianis – March 2016 Chess Life, Submitted by Chess Life
(Honorable Mention — The Square by Nathan Smolensky – Chess Horizons, Holiday 2015)
Best Chess Column — Winner: Cracked Grandmaster Tales / Why Do Grandmasters Blunder? by IM Jeremy Silman – Chess.com
Best State Magazine/Newsletter — Winner: Northwest Chess, editor: Jeffrey Roland, Submitted by Northwest Chess
BEST BOOK:
Best Book – Instructional (paper copy)– Winner: Is Your Move Safe? by NM Dan Heisman – Mongoose Press
(Honorable Mention — Basic Chess Openings for Kids by FM Charles Hertan – New in Chess)
Best Book – Other (paper copy) — Winner: Jose Raul Capablanca: A Chess Biography by Miguel A. Sanchez – McFarland Pubishing
(Honorable Mention — Joseph Henry Blackburne: A Chess Biography by Dr. Tim Harding – McFarland Pubishing)
Best Electronic Book — Winner: The True Origins of Chess: Ancient Greece – Yes, India – No by Dr. Gerald M. Levitt – Gerald M. Levitt
VISUAL ARTS:
Best Chess Magazine/Newsletter Layout — Winner: Chess Life, January 2016, edited by Daniel Lucas,
Senior Art Director Frankie Butler, Submitted by US Chess
(Honorable Mention — Chess Life, March 2016, edited by Daniel Lucas,
Senior Art Director Frankie Butler, Submitted by US Chess)
Best Chess Photojournalism — Winner: Millionaire Chess, Chess Life, January 2016, pp. 22-20, photos by David Llada, Submitted by US Chess
Best Single Photo — Winner: The Struggle, March 2016 Cover of Chess Life – David Llada
Best Chess Art — Winner: The Chess Game, Chess Life, August 2015, p. 10 – Yael Maimon
(Honorable Mention — GM Walter Browne, Chess Life, cover October 2015 – Scotty Phillips)
NEWSPAPER MEDIA:
Best Regular Newspaper Column — Winner: “Fearsome attacker Tate, a local favorite, dies at 58” and “A Valentine’s Day over-the-board mating match — times three” (10/27/2015 & 2/9/2016) by David Sands
Best Regular Newspaper Article of Local Interest — (Honorable Mention: “California Women Do Well” (5/15/2016) by Bill Cornwall)
The following categories are open to journalist and publications both in print and those found online.
NEWS or FEATURES:
Best Tournament Report Article — Winner: Caruana, Paikidze Clinch 1st U.S. Championships by FM Mike Klein, Chess.com
Best Features Article — Winner: Remembering GM Walter Browne by Al Lawrence – October 2015 Chess Life, p. 32
Best Instructive Lesson — Winner: Going Deep by GM Jim Tarjan – November 2015 Chess Life, p. 40
(Honorable Mention — Winning with Botvinnik by GM Lev Alburt- February 2016 Chess Life, p. 24)
Best Review — Winner: Staying Relevant by John Hartmann – January 2016 Chess Life, p. 14
(Honorable Mention — Sicilian Dragon by John Hartmann- March 2016 Chess Life, p. 14)
(Honorable Mention — Another Fischer Book by Vanessa West- February 16, 2016 USChess.com)
Best Humorous Contribution — Winner: Pete’s Pathetic Chess: ‘Never Good’ by Pete Cilento – August 24, 2015 Chess.com
Best Historical Article — Winner: The Marshall Chess Club Turns 100 by Dr. Frank Brady – September 2015 Chess Life, p. 40
Best Interview — Winner: Overlapping Worlds by Dr. Tim Redman – December 2015 Chess Life, p. 39
Best Analysis — Winner: The Kislik Variation Reaches the Top by IM Erik Kislik – April 2016 Chess Life, p. 26
(Honorable Mention — Openings for Amateurs – and Grandmasters by Pete Tamburro – March 2016 Chess Life, p. 28)
Best Club Newsletter/Magazine — Winner: En Passant – Pittsburgh Chess Club edited by John Barraso
The following categories are open only to online journalist and their websites.
ELECTRONIC MEDIA:
Best [USCF] State Chapter Website — Winner: Illinois Chess Association http://il-chess.org/, Editor-in-Chief Bill Feldman
(Honorable Mention — http://www.chessmaine.net/chessmaine by Daniel DeLuca)
Best General Chess Website — Winner: http://ocfchess.org/, Frank Berry (Owner/Editor), Jim Hollingsworth (Webmaster)
Best Electronic State Newsletter — Winner: Colorado Chess Informant, Editor: Fred Eric Spell
(Honorable Mention — Iowa Chess News: En Passant, Editor: Mark Capron, Webmaster: Bethany Carson