In 2021 I was happy to make an endowment to the US Chess Federation (USCF) to create a new annual award for excellence in Chess Instruction.
This award is now given by USCF when they give out their annual awards at the US Open each summer. A person can only win the award once and it is open to anyone who instructs in chess, either live or via a media (videos, software, streaming, etc), one-on-one or group instruction. It is not open to trainers of strong GMs unless someone that person is still "teaching" (and not just aiding) the GM. The USCF awards Committee decides the winner; besides setting up the initial award conditions, I am not directly involved with deciding who gets the award.
I was lucky that this year's first award was made in Cherry Hill NJ, so my family went over there and I was pleased to make the announcement that the first award had been given to famed instructor Bruce Pandolfini (Ben Kingsley plays Bruce in Searching for Bobby Fischer and Bruce had a cameo roll in both that movie, and The Queen's Gambit, where he and Garry Kasparov were the technical advisors).
Award Winners for the Dan Heisman Award for Excellence in Chess Instruction:
This award is now given by USCF when they give out their annual awards at the US Open each summer. A person can only win the award once and it is open to anyone who instructs in chess, either live or via a media (videos, software, streaming, etc), one-on-one or group instruction. It is not open to trainers of strong GMs unless someone that person is still "teaching" (and not just aiding) the GM. The USCF awards Committee decides the winner; besides setting up the initial award conditions, I am not directly involved with deciding who gets the award.
I was lucky that this year's first award was made in Cherry Hill NJ, so my family went over there and I was pleased to make the announcement that the first award had been given to famed instructor Bruce Pandolfini (Ben Kingsley plays Bruce in Searching for Bobby Fischer and Bruce had a cameo roll in both that movie, and The Queen's Gambit, where he and Garry Kasparov were the technical advisors).
Award Winners for the Dan Heisman Award for Excellence in Chess Instruction:
- 2021: Bruce Pandolfini
- 2022: Bill Cornwall
- 2023: Todd Bardwick