2025 was an eventful year for chess, and we surely had a lot to celebrate! We were lucky enough to see chess take over the world stage at the Esports World Cup, witness viral table-banging moments, gasp at brilliant sacrifices, and more.

We asked you to look back at 2025 and vote for the very best people, games, moments, and everything else that made chess special this year. And now we present the winners of the 2025 Chess.com Awards!

• Player Of The Year
• Woman Player Of The Year
• Game Of The Year
• Move Of The Year
• Rising Star Of The Year
• ChessKid Of The Year
• Creator Of The Year
• Commentator Of The Year
• Photo Of The Year
• Book Of The Year

Player Of The Year

It was a close race, but eventually GM Magnus Carlsen emerged as the Player of the Year. Though second-place GM Javokhir Sindarov had a great run in 2025, it's hard to beat the GOAT. Carlsen once more proved his dominance across all forms of chess: he won the Esports World Cup, the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, Norway Chess, and many other events.