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The Trinidad & Tobago Guardian promotes Chess, telling us that all of the US Presidents played it to some degree. (source) Meanwhile, famed Chess champion Kasparov attacks FIDE president Ilyumzhinov for this tarnishing the reputation of FIDE. (source)

The Fort Dodge Messenger promotes Jeff Allers and his love for game design and the ministry. (source)

The San Fransisco Chronicle reports on games at Gencon. (source) The Gaming Gang shares that attendance at Gencon was up to 36,733 unique visitors. (source)

A University of Calgary study claims to show that Scrabble makes you smarter, when all it really appears to show is that competitive Scrabble players recognize fake words faster than non-Scrabble players. (source)

NPR promotes Bananagrams. (source)

Deseret News promotes WWII games. (source)

Stefania Seccia, writing for Burnaby Now, explores being a female reporter at Magic events. (source)

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There are quite a few in this industry, aren’t there? Anyway…

The Dice Tower Gaming Awards for 2010 included:

• 7 Wonders for Best Game of the Year
• Forbidden Island for Best Family Game
• Tory Niemann (Alien Frontiers) for Best New Game Designer
• Survive: Escape from Atlantis! for Best Game Reprint

The TAGIE Awards (Toy & Game Inventor) are accepting nominations for excellence in game design, rising star inventor, young inventor, and excellence in electronic adaptation.

The Finnish Game of the Year Awards went to:

• R. Scary’s Busy Town for Best Children’s Game
• Forbidden Island for Best Family Game
• 7 Wonders for Best Adult’s Game

The Austrian Game of the Year Awards went to:

• Asara for Best Game
• Mord im Arosa for Best Family Game
• 7 Wonders for Best “Friend’s” Game
• Lego Heroica for Best Children’s Game
• Der Herr der Ringe Das Kartenspiel for Best Gamer’s Game

Entry in to the 1,000 Year Game Design Contest closes August 31st. There have been about 30 entries so far but there is a $1,000 prize up for grabs! See how your idea stacks up.

The Gaming Genius Awards (“The Golden Pawns”) is accepting nominations, as well as judge applications.

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As they did for the Commands & Colors: Ancients game, Valley Games is offering custom wood dice for the Commands & Colors: Napoleonics game from GMT. I still haven’t stickered my game, but I did order two sets. $8 each, black, lacquered.

[via ConsimWorld]

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Columbia Games is making a try-before-buying offer for three of its games, Hammer of the Scots, Julius Caeser, and Richard III. Pay only 99¢ up front, shipping included. Return the game within 30 days for no additional charge, or keep it and your credit card will be charged the remaining portion of the game’s price.

Orders in August over $50 at RPGShop.com will get a free random RPG book from the company’s overstock warehouse.

Mongoose is unloading its RuneQuest II books for $19.99/£9.99 each, even the hardback and leather-bound ones. The company lost the license for RuneQuest but will be replacing it with a compatible game called “Legends” in October.

The Woven by Words blog is giving away a DaGeDar racing/collectible marbles game set.

Dungeonstone Terrain (which is compatible with Dwarven Forge Models) is offering $5 off orders of $25 or more in August. Use coupon code “AUG500”.

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On Friday, President Obama signed in to law HR 2715, an amendment to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). Of particular interest to gamers, game manufacturers, and game retailers, provisions of the law:

• Grant the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) the authority to exempt a product, class of product, material, or component part from the lead content standard if it is not likely to be placed in the mouth or ingested.
• Exempt used children’s products from the lead content standard.
• Apply testing requirements to representative samples instead of random samples.
• Exempt books and ordinary paper-based printed products (such as magazines and posters) from third-party testing requirements.
• Prohibit the CPSC from requiring third-party testing from “small batch manufacturers” until the CPSC has provided alternative testing requirements or an exemption for products of which 10,000 or fewer are made in a calendar year. A “small batch manufacturer” is defined as a manufacturer whose total gross sales in the previous calendar year was no more than $1 million. In devising alternative testing requirements, the CPSC must consider the economic and other limitations that small batch manufacturers face, and provide an exemption if no alternative testing requirements are available or economically practicable.

[via TIA]

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Duke’s Inferno does a financial analysis of Games Workshop. (source)

Doc Soup compares game rules for board games to technical writing. (source)

Fran Lasker in the Huffington Post asks if modern electronic toys and games do more harm than good. (source)

Remember Ingeniørspillet, aka The Norwegian Engineer Game? Some Boston fellhas are bringing out the English version called Engineerius.

Kathie Harrington on AdvanceWeb talks about not playing Monopoly with her autistic child. (source)

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Several gaming awards were given out over the last week, mostly at Gen Con, but elsewhere as well.

The 2011 ENnie Awards covered 22 categories. Among the winners were:

• The Dresden Files RPG for Best Game, Best Writing, and Best Rules
• Pathfinder: Advance Players Guide for Product of the Year and Best Supplement
• Pathfinder: Inner Sea World Guide for Best Setting and Best Art, Interior
• Obsidian Portal for Best Website
• Critical Hits for Best Blog
• Yog-Sothoth for Best Podcast

The Indie RPG Awards selected Apocalypse World as Game of the Year and Most Innovative Game.

The Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming went to Fiasco.

The Charles S. Roberts Awards for 2010 included:

• Washington’s War for Best Ancient to Napoleonic Era Board Wargame
• The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 for Best Post-Napoleonic to Pre-World War 2 Era Board Wargame
• Normandy ’44 for Best World War 2 Era Board Wargame
• Labyrinth: The War on Terror for Best Post-WW2 Era Board Wargame

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