Announcing the Winners of the 2022 Chessable Awards

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It’s the moment you’ve been waiting for; the results are finally in for the 2022 edition of the Chessable Awards.

We had more than 60 courses in contention in various categories this year and a dozen new authors, which made voting quite a tall order.

Thousands of Chessable users like you came through to cast your votes on what you thought was la créme de la créme of our catalog this year—a big shout-out to all those who participated in the voting.

Without further ado, let’s unveil the winners of the third edition of the Chessable Awards.

Chessable Author of the Year 2022

Christof Sielecki

Unlike the categories below, this category is not voted on by users. Rather a panel of experts at Chessable gets together to decide on who shall be given this “Lifetime Achievement Award”, based on their repeated and outstanding contributions to the Chessable community.

This year’s winner is none other than fan favorite IM Christof Sielecki. Christof is no stranger to the Chessable awards, with his Keep It Simple for Black having taken home Best Course of the Year and Best Opening Course in 2021.

Course of the Year 2022

Alex Banzea’s London System by IM Alex Banzea

Before the launch of this course Chessable already had its fair share of London courses, but that didn’t stop Alex Banzea from making one that stood out from the rest. He knocked it out of the park with this one. It’s a truly unique course that goes beyond your typical London course by teaching specialized strategies on how to play in typical London system structures. And it’s a course equally suitable for club players up to top masters.

Runners-up:

Keep It Simple 1. e4 – 2.0 by Christof Sielecki

The Beginner’s 1. e4 Repertoire by Andras Toth

Best New Author

Ramesh R.B.

It should come as no surprise to see Ramesh R.B. heading this list. The star-studded trainer of last year’s Olympiad surprise success story released his first course Improve your Calculation to much acclaim. His fantastic presenting skills and videos are another reason he’s caught the eye of so many Chessable users.

However, competition was close in this category, with Ramesh just edging out another new favorite author, GM Maurice Ashley by just 27 votes, and only 38 votes separated Ramesh from third-place author Levon Aronian.

Runners-up:

Maurice Ashley

Levon Aronian

Best Presenter

Simon Williams

A new category in this year’s edition. This one was all about who brought the most pizazz to teaching you chess via craftful video instruction. Charisma is everything here, and with a long-established online presence, it’s no wonder you chose GM Simon Williams, the Ginger GM.

And of course what’s not to love about this jolly author presenting a timeless classic, The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal?

This was another close category, with less than 40 votes separating 1st place from 3rd place.

Runners-up:

Sam Shankland

Christof Sielecki

Best Opening Course for White

Alex Banzea’s London System by IM Alex Banzea

We’re not repeating ourselves here, you read that right… IM Alex Banzea’s London System was such a crowning accomplishment that it took home first prize in the categories for Best Course and Best Opening Course for White. That’s like winning an Oscar for best picture and best screenplay. Hats off to Alex! However, our second-place winner was not far behind with only 21 votes separating them.

Runners-up

Keep It Simple 1. e4 – 2.0 by IM Christof Sielecki

Lifetime Repertoires: Giri’s 1. e4 – Part 2 by GM Anish Giri

Best Opening Course for Black

Lifetime Repertoires: Nimzo/Semi-Tarrasch – Part 2 by GM Surya Shekhar Ganguly

With the exception of Best Course, so far, every one of these categories has come down to mere dozens of votes separating the top contenders.

Such fierce competition speaks a lot about the quality Chessable authors bring to the table. However, we almost needed to do a recount for Best Opening Course for Black it was so close.

The second installment of Ganguly’s course on how to get an edge against 1.d4 beat second place by a mere one vote! Incredible! Condolences to Peter Svidler’s close-but-no-cigar second-place Lifetime Repertoires: Peter Svidler’s Grünfeld – Part 2.

Runners-up

Lifetime Repertoires: Peter Svidler’s Grünfeld – Part 2 by GM Peter Svidler

Understanding Chess Openings: 1.e4 – Part 3 by GM Vladimir Kramnik

Best Tactics Course

Shankland’s Chess Calculation Workbook by GM Sam Shankland

Sam Shankland has long been a fan favorite on Chessable, but until last year he was more known for his openings courses.

In 2022, he released his first-ever calculation course, and users loved it. With detailed annotations on problems spanning from defense to endgame combinations, the double Olympiad gold medalist seems to have hit the mark on his first tactics trainer.

Finally, we see a category where razor-thin margins don’t separate the top contenders. This course won by a modest 2.2 percentage points.

Runners-up

Improve Your Chess Calculation by GM Ramesh R.B.

The Secrets of Chess Geometry by GM Maurice Ashley

Best Strategy Course

Winning Chess Middlegames by GM Ivan Sokolov

Coach of the gold medal-winning Uzbek Olympiad team Ivan Sokolov gives the Chessable treatment to this classic 2009 print release. In it, difficult-to-teach concepts on releasing pawn tension and attacking your opponent’s positional weaknesses are given approachable explanations.

Runners-up:

Levon Aronian’s Beauty of Chess – Vol. 1 by GM Levon Aronian

Grandmaster Training: Advanced Chess Fundamentals by GM Aleksandr Rakhmanov

Best Endgame Course

Endgame Strategy by Mikhail Shereshevsky and presented by GM Sam Shankland

Another classic that’s received the Chessable treatment, the 1980s seminal Endgame Strategy by Mikhail Shereshevsky was expanded and revised to 2022 standards. In addition, Sam Shankland lent his hand in presenting the video portion of this course that teaches practical endgames players are likely to come across in their games.

Runners-up

1001 Chess Endgame Exercises for Beginners by IM Thomas Willemze

Master Your Endgames with Judit Polgar (3 parts) by GM Judit Polgar

Community Author of the Year

Can Kabadayi

CM Can Kabadayi takes home an honorable mention for being the top author from the Chessable community. This award goes out to users like you who create their own courses.

Can has created several hit courses for Chessable, including last year’s Chess Crime & Punishment. His courses are such a hit with users, two of them have been converted to video courses, The Art of Exchanging Pieces, and The Art of Burying Pieces. That’s something not a lot of community authors get to say.

Most Courses Published

Yuriy Krykun

Another one that is definitely deserving a mention is the author that published more courses than anyone else in 2022. That author is none other than workhorse IM Yuriy Krykun, who published a whopping 4 new courses throughout the year. They were Lifetime Repertoires: Krykun’s 1.e4 parts 1 & 2, The Unexplored French Defense, and 1.Nf3: The Reversed Queen’s Indian.

That wraps up the third edition Chessable Awards. Chessable is incredibly fortunate to have so many passionate authors creating courses for users of all levels.

But of course, we couldn’t have done it without users like you who are devoted to learning and improving in this great game of chess. Chessable is grateful for your support.

Stay tuned this year for another round of thrilling competition at the 2023 Chessable Awards – you won’t want to miss it!

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