From Posts to Progress: My Journey Through Blogging and BlogChamps
Welcome, everyone!
One year ago, on September 5th 2024, I was bored of chess. Not chess itself, but of playing chess. Scrolling throughout chesscom's options, I came across this tiny icon, next to the word "Blogs". See where I am going?
Having said that, I read a few and I said to myself: Hey! I can probably do that too. So, I started writing.
Let me tell you this. My first blog was... not very good, let's leave it there. No annotations in games, no table of contents, not a single image, and the thumbnail was a Google image with nothing more than some random icons. However, @VOB96, aka Vanessa, somehow found my blog and invited me to join BlogChamps. Without further information, let's start.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
5. How blogging affected my chess
Blogging was never easy. Sometimes you run out of ideas, or you are simply not in the mood to write. I tried to keep my blogging consistent, even managing to publish a blog once a week. The quality? Well, there was (and is) plenty of room for improvement. There were great things, though. I could write about something I was passionate about; there was no pressure whatsoever, I could follow my own pace, and I could somehow teach other people the things I knew.
When I started, I didn’t have a plan — I just saw the “Blogs” page shining like a leaderboard for thoughts and decided I wanted to climb it. The titles sounded mysterious, the covers looked professional, and I was still figuring out how to center an image properly. But there was something magical about it: real people turning chess into stories, lessons, and personality.
Back then, life outside the board was hectic. Between preparing for a debate competition and trying to get good marks, blogging became my break — my way to breathe. It didn’t feel like studying or training; it was just fun, even when no one was reading yet. Every small like or comment felt like winning a mini-tournament.
That’s how it began: not as a strategy, but as curiosity. I didn’t know what I was doing, but that made it exciting.
This one is quite funny. I was excited for my first blogging competition, and I wanted to make the most of it, so I made this blog: What happens when Carlsen faces... Carlsen. I thought I had had a great idea, creating a fictional game using Magnus Carlsen's favorite opening with white against his repertoire with black. I thought my idea was so good that I could get in the top eight. Silly me 🤣. To my surprise, my blog received a mark of 2.9, and I ended up 33rd out of 44 people (these were the results).
However, I had felt disappointed before. I am super competitive, but when I read the feedback, I actually realized my blog... was quite bad. Driven by my competitive instincts, I made sure I submitted a good blog for Week 2.
That time, I submitted a blog where I talked about flexibility in chess. And let me tell you something. I was so proud of that blog. Reading it now, I can say it was mediocre at best. An AI thumbnail, no in-depth annotations, and maybe too short. My result, you may ask? I got a 5.4 and 17th out of 31 bloggers. Is it below average? Yes. Did I feel super proud? Also yes. Right now, it feels hard to explain, but I "almost" got in, and I had doubled my previous mark, which made me so happy.
After the end of that season, I felt something shift. For the first time, I wasn’t just writing to win — I was writing because I actually enjoyed it. I had started to understand what made a blog work: tone, flow, and how to make people care. I also began reading other bloggers more seriously, studying their structure and style the same way I’d study a chess game. It wasn’t about luck or taste anymore — it was about learning.
That season taught me that even if I wasn’t the best yet, I was improving, and that feeling was addictive. I didn’t know it at the time, but that humble 5.4 was the start of something much bigger.
Let me tell you something, the real game changer was reading the feedback other bloggers received in BlogChamps. It was like peeking behind the curtain — seeing what worked, what fell flat, and how people reacted to style, humor, and presentation. Suddenly, I realized that there was an entire world of techniques and approaches I had never considered.
Some blogs were praised for clever thumbnails, others for storytelling, and some for their sheer originality. It wasn’t just about knowing chess; it was about connecting with readers, making them feel something, whether it was excitement, laughter, or curiosity. I started taking notes, jotting down ideas, and thinking strategically about how to structure my own blogs, much like planning moves in a chess game.
Slowly, it clicked: blogging wasn’t just a hobby, it was a skill I could train, refine, and improve. And that mindset completely changed how I approached Season 8.
I had written nine blogs between seasons 7 and 8. I could tell I was getting better, and I wanted to submit a nice blog for Week 1. Finally, I ended up talking about Levy Rozman's Road to GM. I spent so much time on that blog, to be honest. I tried to make a funny and intriguing thumbnail, I looked up data on Levy's stats and Elo, and I even created a mathematical prediction on his success. Unfortunately for me, I didn't qualify, ending up 15th out of 52 contestants with a score of 6.03 (my all-time best).
Actually, that result made me soooo happy. My process of thought was: If I ended up between the top 16, that means my chances of qualifying in Week 2 are high. That time, I created my first choose your own adventure blog, where Hans Niemman died in strange circumstances, and the reader's objective was to find the killer. Dare I say, my thumbnail was cool, too. Luckily this time I got in!
I ended up fourth out of 51 submissions. This gave me a massive confidence boost. My mark was 7.07! I can not replicate the feeling. The feeling of knowing the time and the effort were worth it. People really appreciated what I'd done. I was Week 2 #4.
I got paired against @2000knights, someone who writes engaging, fun, and cool blogs. I knew it would be hard. Really hard.
Knowing that, I wrote a blog on how blind people play chess, as I had recently played against the ONCE (National Organization of Spanish Blind People), whose team was really strong. I also included my game and some interesting anecdotes. However, my opponent submitted a marvellous post, where he talked about chess players who received less merit than they should have (read it here).
So close, if it weren’t for one game, or one single rule, they [the five Uncrowned Champions of Chess] would take the crown.
— @2000knights
The research, images, quotes, games, and annotations... all were on point. That blog was better than mine, and on the inside, I perfectly knew it. That didn't take away the fact that my blog was also good.
Having lost, I decided that next season, I would prepare my blog long in advance, with multiple revisions, trying to make it as perfect as possible.
Although I went from season 7 to 8 quite fast in this post, a lot of things happened in between. I also learned some things about blogging that no one had ever told me.
First, it's worth mentioning The Blogger Awards v2.0. In this monthly competition, bloggers are awarded medals in various categories. Some include best thumbnail, best editing, most engaging blog, or best title. The impact this competition had on my blogging was huge. I never thought I would say this, but... losing can be great. Some months, I would not receive a single medal.
This was special, though. Some months, when I put more effort into blogging, a silver or bronze medal would appear. It was not long ago that I received my first gold medal. It was not until September 2025 that I got my all-time best performance: three golds. My blog got gold in best satire, best editing (this one I definitely didn't expect), and best thumbnail. Being honest, I was aiming for the "best satire" category. The funny thing is that I did not like how my thumbnail was at first. Therefore, I asked a family member for advice. I changed the background, the font, and two or three icons. I am perfectly aware that I would not have gotten the gold in best thumbnail if it weren't for that help.
What I want to say is that help is always welcome. Some great bloggers like @VOB96, @KevinChessSmith, @ChocoCaramelPawn, and @nova-stone were especially helpful.
The blogging journey made me realize some things. Most importantly, views don't determine quality. A good example? My most viewed blog got fewer than 200 words and a chess game. That's it. This started to spark some curiosity in me. I had improved my thumbnail with help from other BlogChamps bloggers, and the title was catchy. That's probably why so many people clicked on the blog.
Another important thing that blogging has taught me is that if you really want to write, you have to do it for the passion of writing. What do I mean? You will receive very little credit. Probably, I would have stopped writing soon if it were not for BlogChamps.
Last but not least, I have improved my writing skills and my general knowledge of English. As someone who does not write in their mother tongue, I sometimes overuse words (such as however, also, and really). Using a grammar detector before publishing every single blog was key. I can say for sure that every one of my blogs has had at least one typo or grammar mistake. Throughout my journey as a blogger, I can confidently say my writing has gotten better, although I still write "receive" wrong (the other two times I used that word in this post were wrong and I had to change them 😅). For your information, when Grammarly reviewed the text of this blog, it had 76 suggestions...
A tiny thing that really improved my blogging is the correct usage of Artificial Intelligence. Not for writing, but for creating thumbnails, or my most recent discovery: creating HTML codes.
Personally, I really recommend the blog below from @DocSimooo.
5. How blogging affected my chess
This may sound strange. I really think blogging has helped me with my chess skills, though. The research needed for writing, the patience, and the focus were essential. One thing I hate is people making fun of me during an online chess game when I am losing. I am talking about those nasty comments in the chatbox. Look at this recent game I played.
This game is an example of why you should never surrender, even when the situation is bad.
We shall never surrender!
— Winston Churchill
I take this message very seriously. I still remember to this day some random online chess game
Both games are quite low quality. However, that is not the point. Blogging has taught me that you can make a bad blog, but that does not make you a bad blogger.
It’s the same in chess. You can blunder a piece, lose a game, or even drop 100 rating points, but that doesn’t define who you are as a player. What matters is whether you keep showing up, whether you keep learning.
Blogging and chess share that rhythm of improvement. You study, you fail, you try again, and sometimes, almost by accident, you get it right. I’ve realized that every blog I write is a bit like a chess game: I start with an idea (the opening), try to structure my thoughts (the middlegame), and finish hoping that the ending leaves something memorable behind (the endgame).
Sometimes I get crushed by other bloggers’ creativity, other times I manage to surprise them. Either way, it’s a match worth playing.
When I look back at this year, it feels surreal. I began as someone who didn’t even know how to add a thumbnail properly — now I’m writing code, adding interactive boxes, and thinking about composition, pacing, and tone.
More than the medals, views, or BlogChamps results, what really mattered were the people I met along the way. Bloggers who inspired me, editors who helped me improve, and readers who took a few minutes to leave a comment — that meant everything.
Chess blogging has become something I truly love. It’s not just about pieces or openings anymore; it’s about creativity, storytelling, and sharing something that others can feel connected to.
If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that the best part of blogging isn’t the post you just published, it’s the next one you haven’t written yet.
Thank you all for reading, supporting, and following this journey.
See you in the next blog.
