The Goodwill Ambassador of Chess award, which was founded by the Judit Polgar Chess Foundation, returned for the second year to reward some of the most extraordinary achievements within the fields of sport, education, science and art.
The award was given to the 14th Chess World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik for his life achievement in Chess as a Sport, Leontxo Garcia for his efforts with Chess in Education, Demis Hassabis and Alpha Zero for Science in Chess. The world-famous chess grandmaster Pal Benko, who died in late August, was awarded a posthumous award for his artful ways on the chessboard. One of the festival’s most touching moments was when his widow received the Art in Chess award in the midst of a tearful celebration from the audience.
In 2018 the Goodwill Ambassadors of Artistic Values of Chess title was awarded to a number of artists whose work has been inspired or influenced by the great game of chess.
The winners were:
American artist Yoko Ono
French composer Jason Kouchak
Chilean singer-songwriter Juga
Hungarian pianist Gergely Bogányi
Hungarian-American designer and painter Sam Havadtoy
