Chess Oscar

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. 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 until 2014.

The Oscar for the best women chess player of the year was established in 1982.

Statuette
The 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.



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.

Winners

 * {| class="sortable wikitable"

!Year !!Player !!Country
 * 1967 || Bent Larsen ||
 * 1968 || Boris Spassky ||
 * 1969 || Boris Spassky ||
 * 1970 || Bobby Fischer || 🇺🇸
 * 1971 || Bobby Fischer || 🇺🇸
 * 1972 || Bobby Fischer || 🇺🇸
 * 1973 || Anatoly Karpov ||
 * 1974 || Anatoly Karpov ||
 * 1975 || Anatoly Karpov ||
 * 1976 || Anatoly Karpov ||
 * 1977 || Anatoly Karpov ||
 * 1978 || Viktor Korchnoi || 🇨🇭
 * 1979 || Anatoly Karpov ||
 * 1980 || Anatoly Karpov ||
 * 1981 || Anatoly Karpov ||
 * 1982 || Garry Kasparov ||
 * 1983 || Garry Kasparov ||
 * 1984 || Anatoly Karpov ||
 * 1985 || Garry Kasparov ||
 * 1986 || Garry Kasparov ||
 * 1987 || Garry Kasparov ||
 * 1988 || Garry Kasparov ||
 * 1989–94 || no awards ||
 * 1995 || Garry Kasparov || 🇷🇺
 * 1996 || Garry Kasparov || 🇷🇺
 * 1997 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 1998 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 1999 || Garry Kasparov || 🇷🇺
 * 2000 || Vladimir Kramnik || 🇷🇺
 * 2001 || Garry Kasparov || 🇷🇺
 * 2002 || Garry Kasparov || 🇷🇺
 * 2003 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 2004 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 2005 || Veselin Topalov || 🇧🇬
 * 2006 || Vladimir Kramnik || 🇷🇺
 * 2007 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 2008 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 2009 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2010 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2011 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2012 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2013 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * }
 * 1988 || Garry Kasparov ||
 * 1989–94 || no awards ||
 * 1995 || Garry Kasparov || 🇷🇺
 * 1996 || Garry Kasparov || 🇷🇺
 * 1997 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 1998 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 1999 || Garry Kasparov || 🇷🇺
 * 2000 || Vladimir Kramnik || 🇷🇺
 * 2001 || Garry Kasparov || 🇷🇺
 * 2002 || Garry Kasparov || 🇷🇺
 * 2003 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 2004 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 2005 || Veselin Topalov || 🇧🇬
 * 2006 || Vladimir Kramnik || 🇷🇺
 * 2007 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 2008 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 2009 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2010 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2011 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2012 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2013 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * }
 * 2004 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 2005 || Veselin Topalov || 🇧🇬
 * 2006 || Vladimir Kramnik || 🇷🇺
 * 2007 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 2008 || Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳
 * 2009 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2010 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2011 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2012 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2013 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * }
 * 2010 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2011 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2012 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2013 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * }
 * 2012 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * 2013 || Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴
 * }
 * }

Women
First era
 * {| class="sortable wikitable"

!Year !!Player !!Country
 * 1982 || Nona Gaprindashvili ||
 * 1983 ||Pia Cramling ||🇸🇪
 * 1984 || Maya Chiburdanidze||
 * 1985 || Maya Chiburdanidze ||
 * 1986 || Maya Chiburdanidze||
 * 1987 || Maya Chiburdanidze||
 * 1988 || Judit Polgár || 🇭🇺
 * }
 * 1986 || Maya Chiburdanidze||
 * 1987 || Maya Chiburdanidze||
 * 1988 || Judit Polgár || 🇭🇺
 * }
 * 1988 || Judit Polgár || 🇭🇺
 * }
 * }

Second era

Judit Polgár won five more Women's Oscars (1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, and 2002) in the second period of the awards.

By person

 * {| class="sortable wikitable"

!Player !!Country !!Wins
 * Garry Kasparov ||, later 🇷🇺 || 11
 * Anatoly Karpov || || 9
 * Viswanathan Anand || 🇮🇳 || 6
 * Magnus Carlsen || 🇳🇴 || 5
 * Bobby Fischer || 🇺🇸 || 3
 * Boris Spassky || || 2
 * Vladimir Kramnik || 🇷🇺 || 2
 * Bent Larsen || || 1
 * Viktor Korchnoi || 🇨🇭 || 1
 * Veselin Topalov || 🇧🇬 || 1
 * }
 * Boris Spassky || || 2
 * Vladimir Kramnik || 🇷🇺 || 2
 * Bent Larsen || || 1
 * Viktor Korchnoi || 🇨🇭 || 1
 * Veselin Topalov || 🇧🇬 || 1
 * }
 * Viktor Korchnoi || 🇨🇭 || 1
 * Veselin Topalov || 🇧🇬 || 1
 * }
 * }

By nation

 * {| class="sortable wikitable"

!Country !!Wins
 * || 17
 * 🇷🇺 || 7
 * 🇮🇳 || 6
 * 🇳🇴 || 5
 * 🇺🇸 || 3
 * 🇧🇬 || 1
 * || 1
 * 🇨🇭 || 1
 * }
 * 🇺🇸 || 3
 * 🇧🇬 || 1
 * || 1
 * 🇨🇭 || 1
 * }
 * 🇨🇭 || 1
 * }
 * }