Hello everyone! Welcome to the latest installment of The Blogger Awards v2.0, covering entries in July 2025! This continues a blogging community tradition that recognizes the best blogs of the month in different categories. 

It's time to announce the results. All those who reach the podium can expect to see the results reflected in The Blogger Awards v2.0 Medal Table in short order.

Judges: @ChocoCaramelPawn; @nbrasington; @NMChessToImpress

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Gold: @ALondoninVienna for Checks, Chocolate, and Champions: How I Guessed My Way Into National Semifinals.
Silver: @Anna_chess11 for Kings Without Crowns: The Chess Legends Who Never Wore the Title
Bronze: @PokeGirl93 for My Favorite Not-So-Famous Players

Received votes: @VOB96; @ThePawnSlayer; @nova-stone

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Some comments from the judges:

ChocoCaramelPawn:

The gold goes to @PokeGirl93 for her quirky title "My favorite not so famous chess players" that sounds short and sweet. The silver goes to @VOB96 for an amazing, magical charm in her title. Finally, @ALondonInVienna gets the bronze for great word play and intriguing title.

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nbrasington:

I give my vote for gold to @ALondonInVienna, whose title was both catchy and intriguing with some nice alliteration, silver to @ThePawnSlayer for a title that was interesting because of the unique idea it introduces, and bronze to @Anna_chess11 for a dramatic title that caught my attention.

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Additional friendly comment from @VOB96 to @ALondoninVienna. There is no need to have a period at the end of the title.

Gold: @ThePawnSlayer for N.N. My 60 Memorable Games: Part I
Silver: @VOB96 for Gears of Glory: A Journey Through Chess Clock History and @DocSimooo for Vote Chess - The Stone Soup || Vota la mossa - La zuppa di sasso
Bronze: Not awarded due to a tie for Silver.

Received votes: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess; @Alina_Bakhtina_24

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Some comments from the judges:

ChocoCaramelPawn:

Well deserved gold for @ThePawnSlayer, he decided to put up games by unknown players, which I have never seen before in a blog. @DocSimooo get the silver for an overlooked topic called Vote chess, and @VOB96 gets the bronze for chess clocks, which is also an overlooked topic.

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nbrasington:

My gold vote here goes to @ThePawnSlayer for unironically one of the most original topics I've seen, silver to @VOB96 for an interesting point of view and look into the history of chess clocks, and bronze to @DocSimooo for a great story and great connection to vote chess.

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Gold: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess for White Knight gets Outplayed. Blames the Queen
Silver: @RandomUserForChessAcc for When Chess Humiliates Even Good Players
Bronze: @IceConeDragon for The Barnes Opening: what NOT to play and @Jehtt for My Pixar Movie Rankings Are Probably The Worst You've Ever Seen

Received votes: N/A

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Some comments from the judges:

ChocoCaramelPawn:

@JustGettingThisOffMyChess never disappoints in good humor even in serious topics, and @RandomUserForChessAcc did a good job at describing everyday chess situations.

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nbrasington:

@JustGettingThisOffMyChess consistently delivers good satire, and this time is no different, he gets my vote for gold here. @RandomUserForChessAcc's post gets my vote for silver, another nice satire with some funny memes, and my bronze vote goes to @IceConeDragon who also gave me some laughs.

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VOB96:

I was not a judge, but I agree that @Jehtt's ranking is a real joke.

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Gold: @nova-stone for A bish of a knightmare
Silver: @JDchess121 for Brilliant Calculation Techniques That Aren't Taught
Bronze: @readeroftomes for The Knight Battery and @ALondoninVienna for Checks, Chocolate, and Champions: How I Guessed My Way Into National Semifinals

Received votes: @BugMeLater

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Some comments from the judges:

ChocoCaramelPawn:

Nothing can beat @nova-stone's game analysis to checkmating your opponent with a knight and a bishop. It is clear and detailed. Next, @JDChess121 takes the silver for brilliant techniques and amazing chess examples, and @readeroftomes gets a well deserved bronze for his well sorted and annotated chess positions layed nicely in one blog.

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nbrasington:

@nova-stone clearly deserves the gold here in my eyes for an extremely long and in-depth analysis of the knight, bishop, and king vs king endgame, my silver and bronze votes are for @JDchess121 and @readeroftomes, who both used some good game examples to teach strong skills.

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Gold: @Chesser1492 for What If You Were Beth Harmon?
Silver: @DocSimooo for Vote Chess - The Stone Soup || Vota la mossa - La zuppa di sasso
Bronze: @ChessCoach4Beginners for Chess And Real Loaded Guns: My Unexpected Leap to Master Candidate and @VOB96 for Gears of Glory: A Journey Through Chess Clock History

Received votes: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess

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Some comments from the judges:

ChocoCaramelPawn:

@Chesser1492 adventure was really exciting and long, it felt like I am Beth Harmon for real! @DocSimooo tells an amazing story about vote chess with an amazing addition of music that I enjoyed from the start until the end. @Alina_Bakhtina_24's story about young hopes of Ukraine kids was really touching to read.

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nbrasington:

I vote @Chesser1492 for gold here, it doesn't get much more engaging than a choose your adventure blog. @ChessCoach4Beginners is my pick for silver because of his entertaining and unique story that kept me drawn in until the end, and @VOB96 gets a bronze vote for a compelling perspective on chess clocks.

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Gold: @VOB96 for Gears of Glory: A Journey Through Chess Clock History
Silver: @PokeGirl93 for My Favorite Not-So-Famous Players
Bronze: @WinT0L0ss for Paralysed but Not Defeated

Received votes: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess; @ThePawnSlayer

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Some comments from the judges:

ChocoCaramelPawn:

@VOB96 does an outstanding job of telling a story as a chess clock. @PokeGirl93 writing on favorite players has a nice warm touch, and @JustGettingThisOffMyChess' blog was an amazing connection between telling a story and making a reader smile with a small joke.

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nbrasington:

@VOB96 takes gold for me here for the same reason I considered her in the Most Engaging category, a great read. @PokeGirl93 has ruled this category the last two months and she gets my silver vote here, while my bronze goes to @ThePawnSlayer who executed a great idea well, speaking from the point of view of our good friend NN.

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Gold: @SPK1729 for చదరంగంలో నువ్వు ఎవరు? | Who are you in Chess?
Silver: @QQQ1M for 🔥🧩 20 Hidden Dimensions of Chess: Secrets, Sagas & Strategies ♟️🌌
Bronze: @Alina_Bakhtina_24 for Young Hopes of Ukrainian Chess

Received votes: @DocSimooo

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Some comments from the judges:

ChocoCaramelPawn:

@SPK1729 did I really good job of making his blog look fun to read, while not overwhelming the reader with buttons and colors. @DocSimooo was able to create a nice atmosphere thanks to his music and images. Finally, @QQQ1M made very colorful and fun editing with his blog!

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nbrasington:

@SPK1729 has become known as a great editor and he is my gold winner here, the formatting was smooth and the many buttons at the end were a pleasing touch. I give silver to @Alina_Bakthina_24 because the formatting was pretty clean and there was some nice image editing in there. Bronze goes to @QQQ1M for one of the most colorful blogs I've seen, some very exciting editing.

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Gold: @VishTheFish771
Silver: @Anna_chess11
Bronze: @outwittedyou

Received votes: @IceConeDragon; @JETINATE

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Some comments from the judges:

ChocoCaramelPawn:

@VishTheFish771 improved by a mile from his previous blogs, and he was able to create a nice post with great images and writing. @Anna_chess11 improved all aspects of her blogs over the last months, having amazing thumbnails and writing skills.

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nbrasington:

Here I give gold to @outwittedyou, despite lacking a bit in images, the writing was much improved from previous posts. @VishTheFish771 and @JETINATE also have a lot to be proud of, showing a nice jump from older blogs all around.

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VOB96:

I was tasked with breaking the tie for the gold medal in this category, and I would like to congratulate and encourage you all on the amazing improvement you have shown in your recent posts!

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Gold: @GM-Dimitrios-M for Algebraic Chess Notation
Silver: @BugMeLater for A Treatise on the Wing Gambit: French.
Bronze: @Mystery_Chessser for The Dark Side Of Chess

Received votes: @Alina_Bakhtina_24; @Blueberry-kit; @DocSimooo

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Some comments from the judges:

ChocoCaramelPawn:

@GM-Dimitrios-M welcomes the reader with a flashy and straightforward thumbnail. @Alina_Bakhtina_24 made a really nice, colorful play in her thumbnail, and @Mystery_Chessser got me with the mystical scene.

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nbrasington:

@GM-Dimitrios-M delivered a high-effort and nice-looking thumbnail to earn my gold vote. @BugMeLater’s thumbnail looked great and was clever with the wings on the pawn, and @Blueberry-kit’s thumbnail had a good vibe with the blue colors and smoke at the bottom.

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Gold: Capturing the ultimate recognition was @VOB96 for Gears of Glory: A Journey Through Chess Clock History
Silver: @Alina_Bakhtina_24 for Young Hopes of Ukrainian Chess
Bronze: @PokeGirl93 for My Favorite Not-So-Famous Players and @Chesser1492 for What If You Were Beth Harmon?

Received votes: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess

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Some comments from the judges:

ChocoCaramelPawn:

@Alina_Bakhtina_24 made not a blog, but a masterpiece with the amazing formatting, editing and writing. @VOB96 guided the reader into amazing world of different chess clocks, and her story told as a chess clock was intriguing and fun from the start until the end. Finally, @PokeGirl93 did a fascinating job at making a really creative blog topic paired with great writing and amazing creativity. I would also like to mention @Chesser1492, who was able to make word masterpiece!

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nbrasington:

This was very close for me, but ultimately I chose the one the only @VOB96 for gold here. A close second is @Alina_Bakhtina_24 with an extremely well-researched post about the future stars of her country, and in third is @PokeGirl93 with a simple yet executed very well post.

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MONTH SUMMARY

July Contest Feedback - By @KevinSmithIdiot