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At the end of the year, we again invite our readers to vote for the player of the year, the female player of the year, the game of the year, the combination of the year, the endgame of the year, and for the "newcomer" of the year.
For every poll, our editorial team made nominations — which are, of course, subjective even though selected by a panel. To make things easier we whittled down the candidates, and we know some of you might miss your favourites — this is just one of many possible lists.
Here we want to find the best endgame of the year 2018. Our editors have put together the following shortlist. Now make your choice! Who was the best player of 2018?
Vote:
2018playeroftheyear
Anand, So, Gelfand, Duda, Shankland, Navara, Adams, etc. annotate the games of the WCh match. Chess Olympiad with video specials by Pelletier. Plus 11 opening articles with new repertoire idesas, e.g. 1.e4 Nc6 or a new recipe in the London System!
Ding Liren and his Chinese team won the gold medal at the 2018 Chess Olympiad in Batumi and has featured regularly in the circle of elite players throughout the year. In tournament games, he was almost invincible and caused a stir with a historic undefeated streak.
Photo: Alina l'Ami
World Champion Magnus Carlsen is always a candidate for Player of the Year with his number one in the world rankings and a successful World Championship title defense in the rearview mirror. Even if he is not 100% satisfied with himself at the moment, his chess and continuing success are impressive.
Photo: Alina l'Ami
Fabiano Caruana has had a fantastic year: he won the Candidates Tournament and, shortly afterwards, relegated World Champion Carlsen to second place at the Grenke Classic in Baden-Baden. In the world rankings (classical) and the World Championship fight against Carlsen, Caruana was on equal footing — losing only in the rapid tiebreak. Caruana was also one of four players to reach the Grand Chess Tour final tournament — the London Chess Classic — where he lost to Nakamura but beat Aronian in rapid chess. He was one of the most active and most prominent players of the year.
Photo: Alina L'Ami
If you want to name a player this past year who is constantly playing at the same level as Carlsen and Caruana, it's Shakriyar Mamedyarov. He's a stable third in the world rankings and played at a high level all year.
Photo: Alina L'Ami
