Final Four Results & Season 9 Awards!

Hola, amigos y amigas, bloggers, and members of BlogChamps

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Today is a very important day. We are going not only to figure out who moves on to the Blog Bowl, but also to award the best blogs from BlogChamps in 16 different categories!

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

As always, I would like to thank the participants for their wonderful blogs, dear judges @VOB96, @KevinSmithIdiot, @nbrasington, @JustGettingThisOffMyChess, and @ChocoCaramelPawn for their fast and fair votes, and all readers of this announcement for spectating this competition! Without further talking, let's announce the results.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

GROUP A: PokeGirl93 vs. Chesser1492

@PokeGirl93 shared her chess biography with us, detailing her entire journey with our beloved game, including many ups and downs, different perspectives of chess throughout the ages, and, of course, a great deal of emotional and touching stories. Read more about her past and her future with chess in this amazing blog - Moves, Mistakes, and Memories. My Chess Biography

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

@Chesser1492 once again wrote a text similar to his opponent, and this time decided to share more about his blogging journey on Chess.com and the BlogChamps seasons in which he competed. From the initial failures to his improvements over time, and also how it even helped his chess skills. An awesome read! - From Posts to Progress: My Journey Through Blogging and BlogChamps

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Two great blogs full of heart and personal stories. Unfortunately, the journey of one of them in Season 9 has to end here. Congratulations to both! In the end, the judges decided that the winner was:

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

GROUP B: Alina_Bakhtina_24 vs. nova-stone

@Alina_Bakhtina_24 told us more about the history of Chess Boxing, a very new and popular "variant" of chess. Check out her work to know more about its history, great players, and countries that dominate. You will also learn what some famous GMs could do in this sport. Great job! - Intelligence in the Ring: The Amazing Story of Chess boxing

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

@nova-stone wrote an amazing fictional story (I wonder where the inspiration came from ) about Gary Wood, a brave and rebellious pawn who followed his dream until the biggest stage. Check out more about his history, controversies, and plot twists in this amazing piece of writing that will surely entertain you! - True Wood: A rebel pawn's tale

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

As expected, both delivered great blogs and would surely deserve to advance to the final match. We would like to congratulate them both for their amazing work in Season 9. But as the rules say, only one can go through, and the judges decided that it was:

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

To the 2 finalists, congratulations on advancing to the final stage of the competition! And to those who are eliminated: don't be sad. I know it is super disappointing (I also got eliminated in the Final Four in Season 8), but you were able to tie the third place in the toughest BlogChamps seasons yet!

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

We hope you enjoyed competing, and we would like to see you in Season 10. Unfortunately, only one person can win. Here is the updated bracket:

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

If you are qualified, please confirm your participation in the Blog Bowl IX by writing a short comment in this announcement or sending me a DM.

Below is the link to the closed forum with the detailed feedback for the four blogs. Feel free to drop me or @VOB96 a DM if you need more details or tips:

Season 9 Final Four Feedback Forum

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

SEASON 9 AWARDS

Now it is time to award the best blogs this season in 17 different categories! This is a tradition in BlogChamps, revived by @AstroTheoretical_Physics in Season 6. The categories are:

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

• The eleven awards given in the Blogger Awards v2.0.
• Five extra season-specific awards.
• The People's Choice Award for Best Blog.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Also, for all the categories except for the last one, each medalist is only chosen by me and @VOB96. You can call this approach undemocratic, but it would have taken a lot more time for all 5 people to vote. We understand that you may not agree with our decisions, but let's not forget that this competition is just for fun.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

BLOG PRIZES

BEST TITLE OF THE SEASON

Gold: @WinT0L0ss - War and Piece

Silver: @ALondoninVienna - Checks, Chocolate, and Champions: How I Guessed My Way Into National Semifinals.

Bronze: @PokeGirl93 - My Most Hated Not-So-Famous Players

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

BEST TOPIC OF THE SEASON

Gold: @ColeZwynenburg - The F Pawn

Silver: @WinT0L0ss - The Art of The Game

Bronze: @ThePawnSlayer - N.N. My 60 Memorable Games: Part I

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

BEST SATIRE/HUMOR OF THE SEASON

Gold: @Deepsealore - Fifty Shades of Sicilian: What Your Chess Opening Says About You

Silver: @Chesser1492 - If Openings Were People

Bronze: @ALondoninVienna - Crazy Chess Conspiracies Uncovered!

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

BEST ANALYSIS OF THE SEASON

Gold: @nova-stone - A bish of a knightmare

Silver: @JDChess121 - The Queen vs Rook Checkmate | The Hardest in the Game.

Bronze: @squirtle - Into The Grünfeld Defence: An Austrian Classic Made Simple

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

MOST ENGAGING BLOG OF THE SEASON

Gold: @Chesser1492 - What If You Were Beth Harmon?

Silver: @Alina_Bakhtina_24 - My Chess World: Behind And Beyond The Board

Bronze: @Rodgy - The Long Climb to National Master - Part 1

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

BEST WRITING OF THE SEASON

Gold: @PokeGirl93 - My Sincere Opinion On Women’s Titles And Tournaments

Silver: @Rodgy - The Long Climb to National Master - Part 3

Bronze: @nova-stone - Chess Inferno: Seven Circles of Boredom

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

BEST EDITING OF THE SEASON

Gold: @SPK1729 - Game Review By SPK1729 😉

Silver: @Chesser1492 - If Openings Were People

Bronze: @PokeGirl93 - My Favorite Not-So-Famous Players

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

BEST THUMBNAIL OF THE SEASON

Gold: @AaravRoy_25 - Cheating, Drama, Jeans: Top 5 Chess Controversies

Silver: @PokeGirl93 - My Most Hated Not-So-Famous Players

Bronze: @DocSimooo - Classical, Rapid, Blitz, Bullet - Different Skills For Different Time Controls !!

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

BEST RESEARCH OF THE SEASON

Gold: @nova-stone - A bish of a knightmare

Silver: @PokeGirl93 - My Sincere Opinion On Women’s Titles And Tournaments

Bronze: @ThePawnSlayer - N.N. My 60 Memorable Games: Part I

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

BEST BLOG OF THE SEASON (VOB and Choco choices)

Gold: @PokeGirl93 - My Sincere Opinion On Women’s Titles And Tournaments

Silver: @Rodgy - The Long Climb to National Master - Part 1

Bronze: @Alina_Bakhtina_24 - My Chess World: Behind And Beyond The Board

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

BEST BLOG OF THE SEASON (BlogChamps Members' Choices)

Gold: @PokeGirl93 - My Sincere Opinion On Women’s Titles And Tournaments

Silver: @Alina_Bakhtina_24 - My Chess World: Behind And Beyond The Board

Bronze: @PokeGirl93 - My Favorite Not-So-Famous Players

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

BLOGGER PRIZES

ROOKIE OF THE SEASON

Gold: @nova-stone

Silver: @JDChess121

Bronze: @read-23

nova-stone wins Gold for being the one who advanced further, we decided to give silver to JDChess121 because he qualified in Week 1.

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

MOST IMPROVED BLOGGER OF THE SEASON

Gold: @ALondoninVienna

Silver: @Charlie_Harold

Bronze: @Deepsealore

Here, we considered their improvement not only during the season but also what we had seen from these bloggers before the season started, based on previous blogs that we had read from them.

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

SURPRISE OF THE SEASON

Gold: @Chesser1492

Silver: @AaravRoy_25

Bronze: @ALondoninVienna

It sounds similar to the last category, but here we are looking at bloggers who have either gone further than we imagined or who we had no idea how good they could be, and performed very well.

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

COMEBACK BLOGGER OF THE SEASON

Gold: @Rodgy

Silver: @SavageOppress

Bronze: @Alberthepirate

Bloggers who are veterans of the club and have made an epic comeback after one or more seasons away from the main stage.

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

MOST UNDERRATED BLOGGER OF THE SEASON

Gold: @WinT0L0ss

Silver: @ColeZwynenburg

Bronze: @ThePawnSlayer

Bloggers whom we saw almost no one praising or having expectations that they could do well, but who posted pretty good blogs.

      ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

BLOGGER OF THE SEASON

Gold: @PokeGirl93 (updated after the final match)

Silver: @Alina_Bakhtina_24 (updated after the final match)

Bronze: @Chesser1492 & @nova-stone

As we do not have a bronze medal match to decide, both semi-finalists are entitled to this.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

Click here to check out the Season medal table and the full People's Choice Award ranking!

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

BLOG BOWL KICKOFF

And now it is time to open one of the most prestigious and greatest events in our chess community - The Blog Bowl! Each season, 2 remaining bloggers compete for the Zachary Isaac Snow II Trophy on the biggest stage! They are one blog away from being crowned the champion of the blogger universe, achieving a Top Blogger recommendation from @VOB96, mega incredible prizes of US$25 and a one-month premium membership!

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

The Blog Bowl is officially open, and the rules are again the same:

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

• You have until October 22, 23:59 EST (Eastern Standard Time) to submit your blog in the following forum: Submission Forum - Season 9 Blog Bowl

• We are giving you 15 days again. Make sure you post the best blog you can and do it on time! This is the last match, so give it your best shot, and you can be sure it will be worth it because there's very little left to do.

• Also, it is never too much to remind you: Please don't forfeit! I think I don't have to explain what a disaster it would be if your favorite football team aborted playing the final match.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀

That's all, folks! As always, if you have any questions, message @VOB96 or @ChocoCaramelPawn.

Good luck to you all, and I'll see you back with the Blog Bowl IX results!