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

This month was perhaps the strongest since the club was revived. We have the presence of two Top Bloggers who were BlogChamps runners-up in Seasons 4 and 5, as well as two BlogChamps winners in Seasons 6 and 7. We also had some great blogs from the Season 8 qualifiers and the first knockout round. So yes, if you win a medal, you can be really proud of it, and if you don't, you can hold your head up high because you were just unlucky that we had such strong competition this time.

Judges: @VOB96, @NMChessToImpress, and @PokeGirl93

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.

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Gold: @nbrasington for How a Street-Sweeping Orphan Became a Chess Legend
Silver: @Alberthepirate for Tunes & Tactics: The Chess Brain on Music
Bronze: @Chesser1492 for Will You Discover Who Killed Hans Niemann?

Received votes: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess; @imnotgoodatchess123456783

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Some comments from the judges:

VOB96:

I considered many, and will give honourable mentions to @AstroTheoretical_Physics, @WinT0L0ss, @NoahdeAlwis, and a few others I may forget. But in the end, my gold went to @nbrasington for grabbing my attention the most. It is simple, but has chosen a strong contrast that makes me want to read the blog. @alberthepirate takes silver for a nice choice of words, and @Chesser1492 is my bronze medallist for his Agatha Christie-like title.

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PokeGirl93:

I liked Albert's title because I like alliterations, and this one worked well. JGTOMC found nice words to use the GM joke, good one. In third I believe nbrasington makes a simple but effective and attention catcher title. I liked Chesser1492's title too, but he wrote Niemann's name wrong lol.

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Gold: @WinT0L0ss for The Quantum Chess Paradox
Silver: @Alberthepirate for Tunes & Tactics: The Chess Brain on Music
Bronze: @AstroTheoretical_Physics for Two Masters, Two Grim Fates

Received votes: @Alina_Bakhtina_24; @JustGettingThisOffMyChess

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Some comments from the judges:

VOB96:

I really liked the topic chosen by @Alberthepirate, although the blog itself could be better, but that's what these awards are for! My next topic might be related @WinT0L0ss taught me something I hardly knew, so I thoroughly enjoyed the idea. Third, @Alina_Bakhtina_24, who despite not being the first to write about it, chose something very interesting!

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PokeGirl93:

Astro chose a topic I had never heard about and did great research. Good choice. Win's topic is complicated but very interesting, bold idea that deserves recognition. JGTOMC is something rather simple, but relatable and enjoyable to read about.

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Gold: @MaybeEvery for the martin family mystery
Silver: @squirtle for Reacting to Your Chess Games: Part 2
Bronze: @Xhive24 for The Art of Piss & Chess

Received votes: N/A

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Some comments from the judges:

VOB96:

@MaybeEvery was once again the best in this category. I laughed a lot! I also enjoyed @squirtle's hilarious analysis. My third place goes to @Xhive24, who managed to make me laugh even when the subject matter was a bit gross.

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PokeGirl93:

Reading MaybeEvery's blogs is always funny. It's the kind of humour I like. Squirtle's comments on the games he analysed were amusing too. In third, I didn't really like the topic Xhive "chose", but he did well and I laughed at many parts.

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Gold: @KevinSmithIdiot for Analyze with KIMPLODES! Bishop Sac for Multiple Pawns
Silver: @AstroTheoretical_Physics for Two Masters, Two Grim Fates
Bronze: @Chessmo for My 2025 U.S. Amateur Team South Tournament (with A Former World Champion Appearance)

Received votes: @NoahdeAlwis; @nbrasington

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Some comments from the judges:

VOB96:

The best by far was @KevinSmithIdiot, although I agree with Leticia that people below 1200 might have some trouble. Luckily for him, all the judges are above 1800. @AstroTheoretical_Physics wrote a blog that did not focus on analysis, but did very well on it too. @Chessmo deserves third place because I enjoy a good human summary with honest comments.

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PokeGirl93:

Kevin's analysis was the most complete one in my opinion, although perhaps a bit too complex for lower levels. Chessmo did it a bit more superficial, but simpler, so I really liked both. I placed NoahdeAlwis as third given that it can be very useful for people learning the Scotch Gambit.

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Gold: @AstroTheoretical_Physics for Two Masters, Two Grim Fates
Silver: @JugadaBrillante for Chess time travel
Bronze: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess for My Road to GM: Growth Mindset

Received votes: @Chesser1492

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Some comments from the judges:

VOB96:

Gold to @AstroTheoretical_Physics for keeping me interested to read the next paragraph and find out what happened to these people. Very cool! My silver goes to @JugadaBrillante, as I was very engaged in trying to discover all the different timelines. Bronze to @Chesser1492, although I may be a bit biased with the CHYOA idea.

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PokeGirl93:

Writing and engaging sometimes go together. I thought JGTOMC way of telling the story worke pretty well, so it was immersive and very nice to read. Astro's stories were cool and kept me wondering what the next paragraph would be. I give the 3rd place to Chesser because I liked the creative idea. Could have been to JugadaBrillante too, but I think Chesser's story was more dramatic.

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Gold: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess for My Road to GM: Growth Mindset
Silver: @DocSimooo for SKILLS TO DEVELOP TO BECOME A STRONG CHESS PLAYER
Bronze: @KevinSmithIdiot for Analyze with KIMPLODES! Bishop Sac for Multiple Pawns

Received votes: @MaybeEvery

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Some comments from the judges:

VOB96:

@JustGettingThisOffMyChess wins for writing in British English... oops, I mean because I really liked the flow of his text! @DocSimooo has a simple and sweet style that is easy to follow and connects ideas well. @KevinSmithIdiot is sometimes Shakespearean, which can put some readers off, but in this case I think it was the right dose.

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PokeGirl93:

Kevin's writing is complicated for people who are below 1500 in English, but I guess it is not his fault. I had to translate some words, but the flow and organization of ideas works pretty well. Doc's, on the contrary, is way simpler, but sweet and direct, making it easy to read and follow. JGTOMC was a mix of both, but I felt like in some parts the flow was a bit weird. Still, got my 3rd place.

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Gold: @Alina_Bakhtina_24 for Napoleon Bonaparte: A great strategist on the battlefield and on the chessboard
Silver: @nbrasington for How a Street-Sweeping Orphan Became a Chess Legend
Bronze: @DocSimooo for SKILLS TO DEVELOP TO BECOME A STRONG CHESS PLAYER and @KevinSmithIdiot for Analyze with KIMPLODES! Bishop Sac for Multiple Pawns

Received votes: @AstroTheoretical_Physics; @Starflight_FTW

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Some comments from the judges:

VOB96:

In my opinion, there were at least 15 blogs that were very well edited. But most of all, I also ranked @Alina_Bakhtina_24 as the best, mainly because of her good pictures. @nbrasington was easy to read and understand due to its good structure and earned my second place. In third place, I almost had to use a randomiser, but after thinking about it for a while, I decided on @DocSimooo.

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PokeGirl93:

Alina did very well with the images and presentation, the blog looks beautiful. The same can be said for Doc, but it was a little bit below. The third place was really almost like throwing some dice, but after thinking a lot about it, I decide that Starflight's simple way to present his blog worked pretty well.

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Gold: @squirtle
Silver: @Starflight_FTW
Bronze: @Chesser1492

Received votes: @AaravRoy_25

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Some comments from the judges:

VOB96:

Not giving gold to @squirtle would be a crime after his jump from 1.9 to 6.9 in BlogChamps. I know we should try to focus on TBA only here, but I thought we could make this exception. @Starflight_FTW, as he said himself, may have written his first good blog ever. @Chesser1492 is my third place for the whole context, going from a bad blog in BC Season 7 to many pretty good ones recently!

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PokeGirl93:

I'm not Vanessa to read all blogs from everyone, so I can't always compare properly with past blogs, but from what I saw, squirtle and Starflight improved a lot compared to their most recent blogs. AaravRoy also showed some substantial improvement and deserves my third place.

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Gold: @RookMindset for Chess Nightmares From A-Z
Silver: @WinT0L0ss for The Quantum Chess Paradox
Bronze: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess for My Road to GM: Growth Mindset

Received votes: @IFQA; @AstroTheoretical_Physics; @DocSimooo

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Some comments from the judges:

VOB96:

So many great thumbnails! Again, it was very hard to decide, but I am convinced that @RookMindset and @WinT0L0ss deserve it the most. My bronze went to @DocSimooo, but honestly, almost anyone could be considered here, so I give honourable mentions to @JustGettingThisOffMyChess, @Cassian_Cashout, @AstroTheoretical_Physics, @Alina_Bakhtina_24, and @IFQA. And sorry if I forgot anyone!

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PokeGirl93:

I counted more than 10 that I considered, and it was very hard to choose only 3. In the end, RookMindset was my favorite. Win's was cool too, I really liked it! Astro's was not as good as his average, but his average is so high that it was still enough for my 3rd place.

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Gold: @AstroTheoretical_Physics for Two Masters, Two Grim Fates
Silver: @RookMindset for Chess Nightmares From A-Z
Bronze: @JugadaBrillante for Chess time travel and @JustGettingThisOffMyChess for My Road to GM: Growth Mindset

Received votes: N/A

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Some comments from the judges:

VOB96:

@AstroTheoretical_Physics was my choice for combining perhaps the best topic with an amazing blog in almost every way. @RookMindset was also in the top 6 in almost every category, so he deserves to be recognised. @JustGettingThisOffMyChess not being a top blogger is a crime, so at least he gets lots of medals here.

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PokeGirl93:

Despite having less medals than some others, I think Rook's blog was the best one overall, as it did great in many different categories and I considered it for basically all of them, so it deserves my gold. Astro comes in second especially due to the hard research and great presentation, but too little chess. JGTOMC gets my bronze medal for being the blog I personally enjoyed more while reading.

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This is it! Congratulations to all the award winners, all the podium finishers, and everyone who took part! Remember: the competition for April has already opened and we welcome your best blog as you try again to claim a spot on one or more podiums!

We'll see you soon with the April 2025 winners!

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MONTH SUMMARY