Chess.com Awards: Everything You Need To Know – Chess.com
The Chess.com Awards is our yearly celebration of the best of the chess world. At the end of every year, we invite the chess community to vote on the best games, moves, creators, and everything else involving the game we love. The awards are a perfect opportunity for the community to remember, discuss, and commemorate the greatest things about the royal game that happened throughout the year.
Here's everything you need to know about each category of the Chess.com Awards, our nomination criteria, and more:
Every year, we ask the community to vote on their favorite content creators, players, moves, and more. Nominees will be announced in mid-December after major events in early December are concluded. Voting will be open until January 1st.
Any achievements taking placed after voting is opened may be considered in the following year's Chess.com Awards.
The Player of the Year category celebrates the player who defined chess that year. The nominations in this category consider players' year-round performance instead of a single-event victory and are open to all players.
The Woman Player of the Year category awards the top woman player with the most significant chess accomplishments of the year. The nominations in this category consider players' year-round performance instead of a single-event victory.
The chess world is consuming more content than ever before. Whether it's a YouTube video, a legendary X post, a great new book, or any other type of content, there's always a creator putting out amazing chess pieces to their adoring audiences. This category highlights everyone in the content creation space. We consider creators' impact, innovation, and reach to come up with nominations.
The Game of the Year category celebrates the most fantastic game of the year. From tactical slugfests to positional masterpieces, any game played during the Awards consideration period can be nominated. This category highlights the complete effort of a game, from the very beginning to the last move.
Sometimes, a move is so stunning that you can enjoy just staring at it in amazement for several minutes. The Move of the Year category highlights these brilliant moves that come out of nowhere and swipe you off your feet. Unlike the Game of the Year category, the Move of the Year award doesn't consider what happened in the rest of the game but rather celebrates a single moment when one of the players busts out a brilliant move.
The Rising Star category celebrates the young chess players who quickly rose through the chess ranks during the year. Players nominated for the Rising Star award must be 18 or younger. Players who have already won this category in previous years are not eligible to be nominated again.
While watching your favorite players battling over the board is great, the experience can be even better when a fantastic commentator goes through the game with you. The Commentator of the Year category celebrates those who sit in front of the camera to bridge the gap between the audience and the players in an entertaining way.
There is no shortage of top-tier events throughout the year, but the Event of the Year award celebrates those events that stand on a level of their own. This category awards the event that got the most attention from chess fans around the world during the year. The winner is determined by the highest viewership.
Chess improvers out there should pay attention to the Book of the Year award. This category celebrates the best chess books released in the year.
Chess education has expanded way beyond printed books, and students now have more resources than ever to learn and expand their chess knowledge. This category awards the best course from one of the best learning resources out there: Chessable. Courses are nominated by Chessable's staff, with the community voting for their favorite to receive the award. Nominated courses must have been released between January and December of the year of voting.
Are you excited about this year's Chess.com Awards? Let us know in the comment section below.
Here is the original post:
Chess.com Awards: Everything You Need To Know - Chess.com
- Bavarian Championship: 15-year-old Hussain Besou joins the leaders - Chess News | ChessBase - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- FIDE strengthens its presidential representation and advisory team International Chess Federation - FIDE - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura set for renewed rivalry as $250,000 chess championship announced - DAZN - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Chinese Rapid Championship: Ding Liren and Wang Hao exit in quarterfinals - Chess News | ChessBase - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Hawaiis Chess Team Is Making All the Right Moves - HONOLULU Magazine - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Magnus Carlsen teams up with world number five ahead of major chess championship - DAZN - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Just the Rules: An Extra Round? - US Chess.org - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Could a modern chess engine on a Pentium have defeated Kasparov in 1996? - Adafruit - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- How To Tell When Chess Pie Is DoneWithout Overbaking It - Southern Living - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- CHESS Healths Rewards Engine Named a Winner in Inaugural Behavioral Health Business Product of the Year Awards - Yahoo Finance - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Bears-Seahawks will be an incredible chess match - Audacy - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- GM Torre chess tournament draws players to Iloilo City ILOILO CITY About 160 players and at least 60 teams are expected to compete in the GM Eugene... - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Mets' First Official Offseason Signing Could Prove to Be Intriguing Chess Piece - Sports Illustrated - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- After pilot test in Budapest, Total Chess aims to go global - Sportstar - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Checkers and chess: 5 takeaways on Canadas next moves with Washington after Trumps midterm setback - The Hub | More Signal. Less Noise. - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Star-studded broadcast team for Total Chess pilot event - The New Indian Express - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- 'The audience is not coming to watch a good chess game, they are coming to watch the struggle' Viswanathan Anand, Indian Chess Grandmaster says when... - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Chess gets a new show! Meet the star broadcast team - Rediff - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Azerbaijan's Read Samadov finishes third at World U-20 Chess Championship - AzerNews - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Chess Pathshala needs a CEO, and you don't need to know chess! - ChessBase India - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Fujairah to host WFCC Grand Prix Final, with world's best solvers and composers - Chess News | ChessBase - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Total Chess Unveils Star-Studded Broadcast Team And New Highlight Show For Budapest Pilot - NDTV Sports - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Marvel confirms Doomsday is Patrick Stewarts final performance, and the chess scene becomes a farewell - 3DVF - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Who Would Win in 3D Chess: Sheldon Cooper or Magnus Carlsen? - ChessBase India - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Robert Ris' Fast and Furious: Saemisch Variation of the King's Indian - Chess News | ChessBase - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Results & Standings - 3 0 Thursday 2026 | October 29 Third 2026 - Chess.com - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Why India's 99th Grandmaster had to do it twice: The latest mystery of Indian chess, VS Rathanvel - The Times of India - November 5th, 2026 [November 5th, 2026]
- Can Chess Help Kids Improve Their Attention Spans? - Bloomberg.com - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Between the Silk Road and the chessboard - eight days in Uzbekistan - Chess News | ChessBase - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Kenyan prisoners play chess for fun behind bars and to help with rehabilitation - Bozeman Daily Chronicle - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- 1-D Chess: Analysing the Case Against Ben King - Hawks Insiders - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- London chess collective One Square Better is ripping up the rulebook - Dazed - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Deadlock surpasses Team Fortress 2's all-time concurrent player count peak as it adds a chess wizard - PC Gamer - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Review: Robert Ris' FritzTrainers on openings, calculation and strategic thinking (Part 2) - Chess News | ChessBase - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Kenyan prisoners play chess for fun behind bars and to help with rehabilitation - WATE 6 On Your Side - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Bullet Brawl Oct. 3, 2026: Nakamura Breaks Calendar Record With 4th Consecutive Victory - Chess.com - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- LITTLE GRANDMASTER IN THE MAKING Five-year-old chess prodigy Jodiel Chloe Banawa is set to receive a 150,000 cash incentive from the provincial... - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Prishita Gupta and Adhiraj Mitra Win 36th National U-17 Chess Championship - ChessBase India - October 10th, 2026 [October 10th, 2026]
- Kenyan prisoners play chess for fun behind bars and to help with rehabilitation - AP News - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- Three Afghans arrested in Kabul for playing in the Chess Olympiad: We feel afraid, our situation is unsustainable - EL PAS English - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- Kenyan prisoners play chess for fun behind bars and to help with rehabilitation - KDVR - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- Caissa! instead of Lord!: how Russian literature was replaced by chess and what came of it - Realnoe vremya - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- ETHS chess: Team gets off to fast start in season opener - Evanston RoundTable - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- CHESS 2026 In Photos: Two Days of Housewares Industry Connections - HomePage News - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- Kenyan prisoners play chess for fun behind bars and to help with rehabilitation - ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- Chess worlds most controversial figure heads to Jerusalem for record-prize Masters - Ynetnews - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- D'Anton Lynn versus Lincoln Riley is the ultimate chess match - AOL.com - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- "Chess might be one of the least expressive sports I have ever watched" - Chess News | ChessBase - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- This St. Louis synagogues chess set looks beautiful. Then you notice the pieces. - St. Louis Jewish Light - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- Evren Ucok and the case for chess in developing young minds - Chess News | ChessBase - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- Kenyan prisoners play chess for fun behind bars and to help with rehabilitation - Oskaloosa Herald - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- The 2026/27 season of the Bundesliga kicks off this weekend - Chess News | ChessBase - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- 'I had fever, was not high on energy': India No. 1 R Praggnanandhaa after double medals at Chess Olympiad | Exclusive - The Times of India - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- From Dusk till Dawn - Chess News | ChessBase - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- From Tsaghkadzor to the Grand Final: European Schools Chess Champions crowned amidst cultural celebration - Chess News | ChessBase - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- Kenyan prisoners find calm and focus in chess behind bars - Yahoo News Canada - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- Inside Gukeshs transformation from lone wolf to being the life of team meetings at Chess Olympiad - The Indian Express - October 8th, 2026 [October 8th, 2026]
- The dark side of the online world: Hanna Sayce's story - Chess News | ChessBase - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- TE Isaiah Likely: 'I love being called a chess piece' - Giants.com - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Fireworks, drones and champions: Samarkands grand Olympiad finale International Chess Federation - FIDE - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Explainer: The political chess behind the ECB's next leadership shake-up - reuters.com - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Meet 11-year-old Mumo, the youngest Kenyan to earn chess 'Master' title - Daily Nation - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Uzbekistan and China win the 46th Chess Olympiad - European Chess Union - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Every Lesson Counts: FIDE Summit in Samarkand puts chess education at the heart of global development - FIDE - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Meet the 11-year-old girl who's now the youngest woman chess grandmaster ever - WTXL ABC 27 - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- UW-Eau Claire to host chess master John Bartholomew for 'simul' exhibition - WQOW - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Clear win for China in Women's Chess Olympiad, while Kazakhstan and India complete the podium - Chess News | ChessBase - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- 11-year-old from London becomes youngest chess grandmaster of all time - KVUE - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Girl, 11, is youngest chess grandmaster of all time! - WPLG Local 10 - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Vincent Keymer: Relaxed, light-hearted and funny - Chess News | ChessBase - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- AI Has Cracked the Most Diabolical Problems in Math. Why Cant It Solve Chess? - WSJ - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Key Matchups: Two young offensive minds preparing for a chess match in the Big Easy - raiders.com - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Chess team impress on the big stage - Royal Gazette | Bermuda - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Blindfolded and Unbeatable: Meet Maryland Footballs Chess Expert - University of Maryland Athletics - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Uzbekistan Wins FIDE Chess Olympiad Gold on Home Soil in Samarkand - The Times Of Central Asia - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Kazakhstan Womens Chess Team Wins Silver at World Chess Olympiad - The Astana Times - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Two Summers, One Film and a Lot of Chess - The Express News Group - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Dream Olympiad For Uzbekistan: 13 Samarkand 2026 Conclusions - Chess.com - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Chess Olympiad 2026: India retain Gaprindashvili Cup with Open silver & Womens bronze - The Indian Express - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]
- Meet the 11-year-old who has made chess history - BBC - September 29th, 2026 [September 29th, 2026]