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Olympic Twins: Chess Players as Sports Icons

Olympic Twins: Chess Players as Sports Icons

VOB96
| Sep 30, 2025

Hello, dear fans of chess! As promised in my last blog, today I will share another 'Typical Vanessa' post. I hope you understand that this involves making many imaginative comparisons between our beloved game and something else that seems comple...

The Chessboard Of The World: 1960-1980

The Chessboard Of The World: 1960-1980

VOB96
| Sep 15, 2025

Hello, everyone! Time to continue this series that I must finish before the end of the year! While my regular readers already know what it is about, I will give a brief explanation for newcomers. The idea is to relate the chess scenario to sig...

Bombastic Revelations From The World Of Women's Chess

Bombastic Revelations From The World Of Women's Chess

VOB96
| Aug 15, 2025

Hello, curious minds thirsting for the truth! This is Vanessa Holmes, the greatest chess detective on this website. Today, I invite you to join me in uncovering more undeniable facts about the world of our beloved game. Secrets that players and ...

Gears Of Glory: A Journey Through Chess Clock History

Gears Of Glory: A Journey Through Chess Clock History

VOB96
| Jul 30, 2025

Hey, friends! It looks like it's time for another blog! But how would I know that? Elementary, my dear Watson, or whatever your name is. In 2025, we have sophisticated equipment called clocks, which allow us to keep track of time. Therefore, I k...

The Chessboard Of The World: 1940-1960

The Chessboard Of The World: 1940-1960

VOB96
| Jul 15, 2025

Hello, friends! It's time to read another blog! Today, we will continue the series relating the chess scenario to some of the most significant events in history. The aim of this post is to explore how our beloved game evolved during the same per...

How Writing Blogs Changes Our Relation With Chess

How Writing Blogs Changes Our Relation With Chess

VOB96
| Jun 15, 2025

Hello, readers! Today's post will, once again, focus on the magic of writing and reading chess blogs! And why did I decide to write about it? Well, it is because we have just finished another successful season of the most prestigious blogging co...

Checkmated by Power: Times When Chess Was Banned

Checkmated by Power: Times When Chess Was Banned

VOB96
| May 30, 2025

Hello, dear readers! Today, I would like to talk about something that might sound absurd, especially to us chess enthusiasts. Believe it or not, our beloved game has been banned for various reasons in different parts of the world at different ti...

The Chessboard Of The World: 1920-1940

The Chessboard Of The World: 1920-1940

VOB96
| May 15, 2025

Hello and welcome to my new blog! This will be the second episode of the series I started last month. The idea is to discover what was happening in the chess scene during the periods of important events and transformations that changed the histo...

Unseen Brilliance. The World of Blind Chess Tournaments

Unseen Brilliance. The World of Blind Chess Tournaments

VOB96
| Apr 30, 2025

Hello, guys! Welcome to another blog! I will not make any mystery regarding what the topic is because it's already been written up there, but would you like to know why I decided to write about it and where the idea came from? Okay, I can't kn...

The Chessboard Of The World: 1900-1920

The Chessboard Of The World: 1900-1920

VOB96
| Apr 15, 2025

Hey everyone! Welcome to what may be another series in my blog! I am writing this first episode as a test, and if it works well, I may continue it over the next few months. But before explaining, let me start this text with some good news! My ...

Moments When Chess Changed My Life

Moments When Chess Changed My Life

VOB96
| Mar 31, 2025

Hello again, everyone! After a few posts that were either informational or entertaining, I decided to share some personal experiences with you guys again. The reason for this decision was that if this is my blog, it should also be about me, righ...

The Chess Pyramid Treasure: Can You Find It?

The Chess Pyramid Treasure: Can You Find It?

VOB96
| Mar 16, 2025

Hello, dear readers! As you can imagine, my last article about the Chess Prodigies Who Flopped was very research intensive. It was also a heavy topic, especially some of the stories. So, to bring some joy back to my blog, this time, I decided to...

Chess Prodigies Who Flopped - And Why

Chess Prodigies Who Flopped - And Why

VOB96
| Mar 1, 2025

Hello dear readers, As you all know, I am very worried about losing my Top Blogger badge after that ridiculous episode of the Duel Of Nations series, where I had the audacity to compare a small and irrelevant chess country with the powerful Mars...

Duel Of Nations! Episode 3 - England vs. France

Duel Of Nations! Episode 3 - England vs. France

VOB96
| Jan 30, 2025

Hello again! Welcome to the third episode of the series Duel Of Nations! Surprisingly, this content has been more successful than I expected. Thank you for your support, and I'm glad you're enjoying it. But for first-time travelers, let me expla...

My Experience Running A Chess Blogging Competition

My Experience Running A Chess Blogging Competition

VOB96
| Jan 15, 2025

Kia ora, dear readers! Welcome to my first blog of 2025! Before anything else, I hope you are all having a great start to the year. Once again, I will try my best to post twice a month until the end and keep you entertained with different conten...

Top 10 Chess Moments Of 2024!

Top 10 Chess Moments Of 2024!

VOB96
| Dec 30, 2024

Dear readers, welcome to my last blog in 2024! Phew, this was the first full year of "The Kiwi Hobbit's Blog" on Chess.com. I admit that, in January, I was not sure if I would be able to write two posts a month until the end, but I am lucky to h...

Duel Of Nations! Episode 2 - China vs. Hungary

Duel Of Nations! Episode 2 - China vs. Hungary

VOB96
| Dec 15, 2024

Dear all, Welcome to the second episode of the “Duel of Nations” series. Those who have read the first article will know how it works, but as I like all my texts to be independent, I will briefly explain its structure again. The idea...

The Hidden Links Between Chess And Aviation

The Hidden Links Between Chess And Aviation

VOB96
| Nov 29, 2024

Dear passengers, This is Captain Bristow speaking. Welcome aboard flight CH355, operated by Chess.com Airlines. Today, my cabin crew and I are going to take you on an amazing trip through the history and curious links between aviation and chess....

Duel Of Nations! Episode 1 - Argentina vs. Netherlands

Duel Of Nations! Episode 1 - Argentina vs. Netherlands

VOB96
| Nov 15, 2024

Dear all, Welcome to a new series on my blog called "Duel Of Nations". First of all, let me briefly explain what this will be. This series will consist of three episodes in which I will directly compare two nations regarding chess strength. The ...

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