First let me give the second nomination to: Topalov vs F Vallejo Pons, 2014

Second, I believe this was the first year when the very best games (even aesthetically speaking) were played by engines. I want to nominate the game <Crafty vs Houdini, 2014> for game of the year. It is an exceptional game where Crafty goes for a mating attack, but Houdini finds a brilliant defense that includes first an underpromotion, and then a queen sac. The game is not currently in the database, but it will probably be added before round 14. Here's a very short video for the game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRD...

I'm <<<NOT>>> nominating these, but some of the other noteworthy computer games are: Stockfish vs Jonny, 2014, and Arasan vs Critter, 2014

First, a few preliminary notes:

1. It has been decided that nominees may decline to be nominated.

2. It is my understanding that <Eyal> and <Abdel Irada> wish to do so. Therefore, I will omit their nominations.

3. As <HeMateMe> has not yet returned a final choice of 3 out of his 5 Best Avatar submissions, I will simply count the first 3 of them.

~~~

< 2015 Caissars Nominees <<<<>>>>>

<1. Best Avatar <->>

<2 nominations and in>

sevenseaman, Sneaky, technical draw, YouRang

<1 nomination, awaits second>

al wazir (User: al wazir), Alien Math (User: Alien Math), Catfriend (User: Catfriend), ketchuplover (User: ketchuplover), lost in space (User: lost in space), patzer2 (User: patzer2), perfidious (User: perfidious), Phony Benoni (User: Phony Benoni), scutigera (User: scutigera), trulssk (User: trulssk), wordfunph (User: wordfunph)

<<<<<<>>>>> please visit them and take a look!>

<2. Best Username <->>

<2 nominations and in>

Cheapo by the Dozen, checkmateyourmove, diagonalley, Mating Net, notyetagm, Phony Benoni

<1 nomination, awaits second>

Baron Harkonnen, goodevans, Natalia Pogonina, SetNoEscapeOn, stunningmove, thegoodanarchist, Wesley So

<3. Most Helpful <->>

<2 nominations and in>

Annie K., chancho, FSR, morfishine, Phony Benoni, WannaBe, zanzibar

<1 nomination, awaits second>

Alien Math, AylerKupp, dzchiel, hms123, Jim Bartle, kwid, NakoSonorense, RandomVisitor, SwitchingQuylthulg, Thanh Phan, Travis Bickle, YouRang

<4. Best Post <->>

<2 nominations and in>

Phony Benoni - Shirov vs S Sulskis, 2014

<1 nomination, awaits second>

ajile - Carlsen vs Caruana, 2014

AylerKupp - Norway Chess Tournament (2014)

frogbert - Magnus Carlsen

goldenbear - Carlsen-Anand World Championship (2014)

Kinghunt - Carlsen-Anand World Championship (2014)

notyetagm - Qatar Masters (2014)

offramp - Garry Kasparov

Sally Simpson - Sinquefield Cup (2014)

tpstar - Hikaru Nakamura

tranquilsimplicity - Carlsen vs Anand, 2014

<5. Funniest Poster <->>

<2 nominations and in>

Annie K., dakgootje, diceman, Once, Phony Benoni, technical draw, tpstar, WannaBe, YouRang

<1 nomination, awaits second>

Colonel Mortimer, john barleycorn, keypusher, OhioChessFan, posoo, sevenseaman, TheFocus, twinlark

<6. Most Constructive <->>

<2 nominations and in>

Annie K., cro777, jepflast, jessicafischerqueen, RandomVisitor, SwitchingQuylthulg, wordfunph, zanzibar

<1 nomination, awaits second>

Domdaniel, Honza Cervenka, kwid, OhioChessFan, PhonyBenoni, Sally Simpson, sevenseaman

<7. Best Profile <->>

<2 nominations and in>

Domdaniel, notyetagm, Once, Phony Benoni, YouRang

<1 nomination, awaits second>

sevenseaman, WinKing

<8. Best Analysis <->>

<2 nominations and in>

csmath, DaringSpeculator, kwid, Once, patzer2

<1 nomination, awaits second>

cro777, kingscrusher, Phony Benoni, TheaN

<9. Best Game Collection <->>

<2 nominations and in>

Game Collection: *FORCE* your opponent to line up his pieces! (by notyetagm)

Game Collection: Game of the Day 2014 (by Phony Benoni)

<1 nomination, awaits second>

Game Collection: best of 2014 (by Chnebelgrind)

Game Collection: Interzonal 1970 (Palma de Mallorca) (by Phony Benoni)

<10. Most Informed <->>

<2 nominations and in>

AylerKupp, keypusher, jessicafischerqueen, RandomVisitor, SwitchingQuylthulg

<1 nomination, awaits second>

al wazir, Colonel Mortimer, FSR, Kinghunt, kingscrusher, kwid, notyetagm, patzer2, wordfunph

<11. Best Historian <->>

<2 nominations and in>

alexmagnus, jessicafischerqueen, Karpova, keypusher, Phony Benoni, SetNoEscapeOn, SwitchingQuylthulg, Tabanus

<1 nomination, awaits second>

perfidious, petrosianic, suenteus po 147, zanzibar

<12. Best/Worst Pun of the Year <->>

<2 nominations and in>

"Ain't it Funny How the Knight Moves" (Mieses vs Seger, 1890)

"Cebalo 13" (M Cebalo vs Vasiukov, 2014)

"g2, Joy of Man's Desiring" (Boleslavsky vs Ufimtsev, 1944)

"Suffering from c6-ness" (The World vs Naiditsch, 2014)

"The Lion, the Vish, and the Ward Robbed" (C Ward vs Anand, 1990)

"Vladislav (Baby Don't Hurt Me)" (Tkachiev vs Ivanchuk, 2009)

<1 nomination, awaits second>

"Avrukh, Will Travel" (M Roiz vs B Avrukh, 2008)

"Car Wars" (Carlsen vs Caruana, 2014)

"Haba Kokes and a Smile" (P Haba vs B Kokes, 2003)

"I Am the One Who Naks" (Gelfand vs Nakamura, 2010)

"Ribli's Believe it or Not" (Ribli vs Smyslov, 1982)

"The 100 Moves' War" (La Bourdonnais vs McDonnell, 1834)

"The Salem Vish Trials" (Anand vs A R Saleh Salem, 2014)

<13. Player of the Year <->>

<2 nominations and in>

Viswanathan Anand, Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Alexander Grischuk, Veselin Topalov

<1 nomination, awaits second>

Anish Giri, Yifan Hou, Richard Rapport, Wesley So

<14. Game of the Year <->>

<2 nominations and in>

The World vs Naiditsch, 2014
Topalov vs F Vallejo Pons, 2014
Caruana vs Aronian, 2014
Arasan vs Critter, 2014
Carlsen vs Anand, 2014

<1 nomination, awaits second>

I don't know if it's me or not, but there doesn't seem to me as many nominations as in previous years.

To try to increase the amount of choices, I'm going to spend all my remaining nominations "seconding" some nominations.

I know <the Caissars> prefers all nominations to be in one post and not two separate posts, but this will be all in one post.

Also, to make sure I don't overlap my quota, please refer to this post: The Caissars chessforum, and disregard any superfluous selections.

Anyway, here I go to fill up my nomination space:

I nominate <Catfriend>, <ketchuplover> and <trulssk> for Best Avatar(s).

I nominate <thegoodanarchist> for Best Username.

I nominate <hms123>, <SwitchingQuylthulg> and <YouRang> for most helpful(s).

I nominate <visayanbraindoctor> and his post for Best Post.

I nominate <OhioChessFan> for funniest poster.

I nominate <sevenseaman> for best profile

P.S. I would like to see someone else nominate <WinKing> for best profile. Sorry to break the rules. :)

I nominate <cro777>, <kingscrusher> and <Phony Benoni> for best analysis(es).

I nominate <Chnebelgrind> and his game collection for best game collection.

I nominate <notyetagm> for most informed.

I nominate <zanzibar> for best historian.

I nominate <Rapport> for best player.

Maybe the site could offer a membership in a drawing for everyone who votes, as a carrot? Hundreds of visitors here, but not enough voters.>

I think there are reasons for this. Read comments around the site, both this year and last, and you'll find frequently expressed a weary cynicism about the Caissars as a popularity contest disfigured by cronyism.

Now, this may very well be a matter of people misreading the situation, but it won't do to pretend that this perception doesn't exist.

Soft those paws may be, but let them once close on you in earnest in a debate, and you're cat food.

Sorry, <Abdel> nominations closed on the 8th, a post with a 9th datestamp can't be considered.

<HeMateMe: <I second everyone listed above.>>

That's a useless comment. You can't "second everybody" because you don't have an endless quota, and you can't expect me or the admins to sit around figuring out how many nominations you do have left and who they should go to. That should be your job.

I can do this much: in the Best Avatar category, you nominated scutigera and al wazir, then added Sneaky, YouRang, and lost in space. However, Sneaky and YouRang also received second nominations from another member, so I'll allocate your third nomination to lost in space.

Thank you, and please do your own homework next time. ;p

I will undoubtedly be late for my own funeral. :-S

<1. Best Avatar <->>

Catfriend, ketchuplover, lost in space, sevenseaman, Sneaky, technical draw, trulssk, YouRang

<2. Best Username <->>

Cheapo by the Dozen, checkmateyourmove, diagonalley, Mating Net, notyetagm, Phony Benoni, thegoodanarchist

<3. Most Helpful <->>

Annie K., chancho, FSR, hms123, morfishine, Phony Benoni, SwitchingQuylthulg, WannaBe, YouRang, zanzibar

<4. Best Post <->>

Phony Benoni - Shirov vs S Sulskis, 2014

visayanbraindoctor - Anand - Carlsen World Championship (2013)

<5. Funniest Poster <->>

Annie K., dakgootje, diceman, OhioChessFan, Once, Phony Benoni, technical draw, tpstar, WannaBe, YouRang

<6. Most Constructive <->>

Annie K., cro777, jepflast, jessicafischerqueen, RandomVisitor, SwitchingQuylthulg, wordfunph, zanzibar

<7. Best Profile <->>

Domdaniel, notyetagm, Once, Phony Benoni, sevenseaman, YouRang

<8. Best Analysis <->>

cro777, csmath, DaringSpeculator, kingscrusher, kwid, Once, patzer2, Phony Benoni

<9. Best Game Collection <->>

Game Collection: best of 2014 (by Chnebelgrind)

Game Collection: *FORCE* your opponent to line up his pieces! (by notyetagm)

Game Collection: Game of the Day 2014 (by Phony Benoni)

<10. Most Informed <->>

AylerKupp, keypusher, jessicafischerqueen, notyetagm, RandomVisitor, SwitchingQuylthulg

<11. Best Historian <->>

alexmagnus, jessicafischerqueen, Karpova, keypusher, Phony Benoni, SetNoEscapeOn, SwitchingQuylthulg, Tabanus, zanzibar

<12. Best/Worst Pun of the Year <->>

"Ain't it Funny How the Knight Moves" (Mieses vs Seger, 1890)

"Cebalo 13" (M Cebalo vs Vasiukov, 2014)

"g2, Joy of Man's Desiring" (Boleslavsky vs Ufimtsev, 1944)

"Suffering from c6-ness" (The World vs Naiditsch, 2014)

"The Lion, the Vish, and the Ward Robbed" (C Ward vs Anand, 1990)

"Vladislav (Baby Don't Hurt Me)" (Tkachiev vs Ivanchuk, 2009)

<13. Player of the Year <->>

Viswanathan Anand, Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Alexander Grischuk, Richard Rapport, Veselin Topalov

<14. Game of the Year <->>

Catfriend, ketchuplover, lost in space, sevenseaman, Sneaky, technical draw, trulssk, YouRang>

Hmm. <Softpaw> isn't on that list.

You do realize you're forcing me to board my time machine and retroactively hack my nomination so it appears yesterday?

Thanks loads.

Dry up, you pompous narcissist.>

I give you credit for consistency.

Given the choice between trying to show the flaws in my arguments and calling names, you will always do the latter.

But I understand. I've shot down so many of your repeated lies that you are surely so filled with resentment that there is no room left in your brain for logic.

I vote for <User: trulssk> for 1. Best Avatar

<1. Best Avatar <->>

(handy links below so you can see their avatars)

User: Catfriend

User: ketchuplover

User: lost in space

User: sevenseaman

User: Sneaky

User: technical draw

User: trulssk

User: YouRang

<2. Best Username <->>

Cheapo by the Dozen

checkmateyourmove

diagonalley

Mating Net

notyetagm

Phony Benoni

thegoodanarchist

NOTE: To vote, please make a post and use the word "vote" in your post and use "gold text" around the username. For example, "I vote for <ChessNut> for best username." would be exemplary. (We have software that helps us count, and if you format it that way it makes our job easier.)

I vote for <Cheapo by the Dozen> for Best Username.

I vote for <notyetagm> for Best Username