The first ever Fair Play Prize was given out by the President of the Association of Chess Professionals Emil Sutovsky. Russian GM Evgeny Tomashevsky received the honorific prize during the Russian Teams Championship in Loo.
The fact that the award was given during this event is no coincidence, as the reason given for Tomashevksy to win this event was his sportsmanship demonstrated during the previous edition.
During his game against Indian GM Krishnan Sasikiran, the Russian was a pawn down in a rook endgame. The position already looked like it was heading to a draw when Sasikiran made a move and pushed the clock too lightly, his flag fell, but Tomashevsky did not accept this as a fair victory and offered a draw.
Russian Team Chess Championship 2012
Russian Teams Chess Championship 2013: Live Games / Round 2 / Round 3
What does it mean?
For a point of comparison, in the game of cricket, the intent of a player is a meaningful consideration in the rules, not just the mechanics of what happens. This applies especially to leg-before-wicket decisions. Hence there is a good reference for Sasikiran’s intent to press the clock mattering, in a game that was not blitz. Thus I find this sporting action deserves only applause.