From the Desk of the 3rd Annual Creativity Contest Chair

Results are In. Image showing the TCA logo, the TCA Creativity Contest banner, and award categories that were judged.
Caissa's Best Friend. Image of Penny the Dog playing chess by Patrick Tejeda.

Caissa’s Best Friend. By Patrick Tejeda (Region VI).

1st Place.

Visual Arts Awards Category. Best Photo Sub Category. TCA is sponsoring this photo for The Chess Journalists of America’s (CJA) Annual Awards Competition. CJA winners will be announced during the 2023 US Open. TCA’s creativity judges commented that Penny looks like a really smart dog. Her owner, Patrick Tejeda, disagreed by saying she only wins with the white pieces.

Capitulation. Image of a chess game's decisive moment. By Patrick Tejeda.

Capitulation. By Patrick Tejeda (Region VI).

2nd Place.

Visual Arts Awards Category. Best Photo Sub Category. TCA is not sponsoring this photo for further competition. However, the photographer joined CJA and is eligible to nominate it for CJA’s Annual Awards Competition. CJA winners will be announced during the 2023 US Open.

Note: Honorable Mentions are listed in Alphabetical Order.

The Round Has Begun. Image of a lage room filled with chess players at their boards. By Caleb Brown.

The Round Has Begun. By Caleb Brown (Region II).

Honorable Mention.

Visual Arts Awards Category. Best Photo Sub Category. TCA is not sponsoring this photo for further competition. However, the photographer is eligible to join CJA and nominate it for CJA’s Annual Awards Competition. CJA winners will be announced during the 2023 US Open.

Endgame. Image of Noah Falkovich (L) and Danny Hardesty (R) playing chess. By Brenda Hardesty.

Endgame. By Brenda Hardesty (Region IX).

In the photo are Noah Falkovich (left) and Danny Hardesty (right).

Honorable Mention.

Visual Arts Awards Category. Best Photo Sub Category. TCA is not sponsoring this photo for further competition. However, the photographer is eligible to join CJA and nominate it for CJA’s Annual Awards Competition. CJA winners will be announced during the 2023 US Open.

Skittles. Image of three friends kibitzing over a chess board. By Brenda Hardesty. In the photo are Toby Ward (left), Joshua White (center) and Zander Kuhn (right).

Skittles. By Brenda Hardesty (Region IX).

In the photo are Toby Ward (left), Joshua White (center) and Zander Kuhn (right).

Honorable Mention.

Visual Arts Awards Category. Best Photo Sub Category. TCA is not sponsoring this photo for further competition. However, the photographer is eligible to join CJA and nominate it for CJA’s Annual Awards Competition. CJA winners will be announced during the 2023 US Open.

Also, congratulations to Caleb Brown (Region II).

1st Place.

Winner of the Online & Social Media Awards Category – Sub Category = Best Overall Website – Small Organization (groups of less than 500). TCA is sponsoring this his website for CJA’s Annual Awards Competition. CJA winners will be announced during the 2023 US Open.

His website’s link is: https://innovativechesssolutions.com/

TCA will also sponsor Texas Knights and the TCA website for CJA’s Annual Awards Competition.

Congratulations and many thanks to all competitors. Many thanks also to our TCA Creativity Contest judges: John De Vries, Randy Dixon, and Chris Wood. The Contest Chair was Jim Hollingsworth.

All TCA Creativity Contestants will receive PDF certificates of achievement.

As this is written, other Texans in addition to the above have already entered the CJA Annual Awards Contest. These include Dr. Alexey Rood, WIM, and Jim Hollingsworth. The status for all TCA members in the Annual CJA Awards Contest can be followed at: https://chessjournalism.org/2023-award-entries/