Will your favourites win 2018 chess honours?

By Errol Tiwari On In Chess with Errol |
In November, Ju Wenjun of China, 27, successfully defended her World Chess Championship title in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. In the process, she raised her FIDE rating to 2575. China’s Hou Yifan remains at the top of the FIDE points table for women with 2663 following engagements with the most prolific grandmasters worldwide. Yifan is also completing a degree programme at Oxford University in England. (Photo: ugra 2018.fide.com)
In November, Ju Wenjun of China, 27, successfully defended her World Chess Championship title in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. In the process, she raised her FIDE rating to 2575. China’s Hou Yifan remains at the top of the FIDE points table for women with 2663 following engagements with the most prolific grandmasters worldwide. Yifan is also completing a degree programme at Oxford University in England. (Photo: ugra 2018.fide.com)

At the end of each year, the publication Chess Base invites readers to vote for the:

1. Player of the year

2. Woman player of the year 

3. Game of the year 

4. Endgame of the year

5. Combination of the year

6. Newcomer of the year.

Indian chess prodigy and grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, 13 (right) extends the traditional greeting to his opponent Sergey Karjakin at the 2018 Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Kolkata, India, last month. Pragg, who won the game, became the third youngest grandmaster in history earlier this year. Karjakin still holds the number one spot as the youngest chess grandmaster of all time. (Photo: Amruta Mokal)

For every poll the editorial team established a shortlist of choices. The list is subjective, since every chess player wants to have his or her favourite game included, and so on. Anyhow, replaying the games bring enjoyment and satisfaction even if they were played previously. All of the five games selected by the editors of Chess Base Magazine are capable of being referred to as the “2018 Game of the Year”.  The selections are to be published shortly.

The World Rapid and Blitz Championships are ongoing in St Petersburg and end tomorrow. The details of the Championships would be published in due course.

Happy New Year to all!