Kia Ora!

Welcome to another review of a BlogChamps Season! These posts might not generate the most views, but they are definitely the ones I enjoy writing the most. Today, we will take a look at Season 10 of this amazing competition, the recently created spin-off contests, and discuss some of our latest achievements!

A lot has changed since I last wrote about it, so get ready! You can check out the blogs related to Seasons 7, 8, and 9 below.

• Season 7: My Experience Running A Chess Blogging Competition

• Season 8: How Writing Blogs Changes Our Relation With Chess

• Season 9: The Art Of Chess Blogging: Lessons From BlogChamps Season 9

First of all, let's talk about statistics. Season 10 broke the submission and participation records once again. A total of 112 entries were submitted by 83 different users in the qualifying rounds.

This increase in engagement enabled us to select 24 competitors to progress to the final stages, instead of the usual 16. If we also include the knockout phases, the total number of submissions rises to an impressive 157!

I hope this proves that the event was a great success. Time to read about how it went.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 - Qualifiers

2 - Knockouts

3 - Winners

4 - Spin-Off Contests

5 - Official Badge

6 - Conclusion

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1 - Qualifiers

Season 10 began on 10 December 2025, and the club members were given a particularly fun challenge. The admins decided that if we received more than 45 submissions in Week 1 and more than 30 in Week 2, we would qualify twelve users per week for the knockout rounds instead of the usual eight.

Please note that this was not only to encourage more participation or to celebrate this special milestone season, but also a way to be fair to them.

In previous competitions, there were always amazing bloggers who were eliminated by a very small margin, despite the high quality of their posts. Therefore, offering some extra places seemed like the right thing to do.

“So, Vanessa, how was that? Did they do it?” Well, no, they didn’t just do it. They actually smashed our goal! Week 1 received 54 entries, a record number of submissions in the club's history. I was already thrilled with that number and thought it would be unbeatable.

However, reaching the required number of posts in Week 2 seemed almost obvious and like a mere formality. Perhaps we set the bar too low when we defined a minimum of 30 posts.

Still, the outcome was a huge positive surprise, as Week 2 received 58 submissions (!!), setting a new, mind-blowing record. Congratulations and a huge thank you to all 83 users who participated and helped make it happen!

Of course, judging such a large number of blogs is no easy task, so you would expect the results to take several days to be released, wouldn't you?

Wrong! Because our awesome judges, @Alina_Bakhtina_24, @ChocoCaramelPawn, @JustGettingThisOffMyChess, @KevinChessSmith, @nbrasington, and @PokeGirl93, were able to deliver the results for both weeks in less than three days. It was a truly Herculean and commendable voluntary effort to provide such a fun competition for everyone. Thank you again for that!

Once the 24 users who advanced had been confirmed, the knockout rounds would follow a simple set of rules. There would be the usual one-on-one matches until the final, the Blog Bowl X, which this season would feature three bloggers instead of only two. So exciting!

Curious about the results? You can find a list of all the qualified bloggers and their respective seeds below. They were all excellent, and now it was time to separate the kiwis from the eagles (interpret as you wish). Let's read about the knockouts!

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2 - Knockouts

Alright, after some thrilling qualifiers, we have reached the much-awaited knockout matches. In this phase, two users compete against each other, and the judges decide who wrote the best piece based on a variety of criteria, such as: Thumbnail, title, editing, writing, originality, humor, analysis, and research.

Of course, that doesn’t mean that the losing blogger wrote a bad post. More often than not, we receive two amazing texts, both of which really deserve to progress. It is a painful task to choose one to be eliminated. Why do you think I give the judging duty to other people? It is simply too hard!

For clarification, all qualified users took part in twelve one-on-one matches. The winners of these matches were then paired up again in six matches, and so on... until only three bloggers remained to receive Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals in the final.

However, I will not pretend that everything was perfect. Unfortunately, two of the competitors submitted their blogs after the given deadline. They were penalized by having one of their votes converted to their opponent. Nevertheless, I consider this better than withdrawing or not writing anything at all.

Fun fact: since there were more participants this time, we had to get creative with the new names of each round. Check them out in the picture below.

I would love to go through each match individually, but this post would quickly become endless. What I can say is that many were decided by the narrowest of margins. There were plenty of 3–2 scores, which really shows how balanced and high-level the competition was.

We know that deadlines can sometimes be tight, but that's all part of the game. Congratulations to everyone who took part, and rest assured that the spectators love to see this level of commitment.

As has been the tradition since Season 7, @ChocoCaramelPawn and I have chosen the prestigious Season Awards, which recognize blogs and bloggers in various categories, regardless of how far they got. You can check the announcement with all the winners below.

“But Vanessa, I can't wait any longer! Who were the finalists? How was the final decision made? Who won the season and took home the coveted Zachary Isaac Snow II trophy?”

Calm down, calm down... because we are about to find out in the next chapter! Get the champagne ready, and let's meet the three season medalists.

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3 - Winners

Ok, I know you have all been waiting for this. But before we reveal the results, it is only fair that we take a moment to celebrate our three finalists. Not just for their final entries, but for their outstanding contributions to the BlogChamps community.

In alphabetical order, please welcome them.

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First, our Italian friend @DocSimooo, who was competing in his fourth consecutive season. Simone is known for being one of the fastest submitters in every round. But speed has never affected the quality.

His blogs are consistently personal, powerful, and crafted with great attention to detail. Impeccable work!

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Next, @theeldest1, a Kiwi-American teenager making his debut season. Ethan is a regular participant in high-level tournaments across the USA and the world. He always provides his readers with amazing recaps of his tournament results.

His analysis is deep, his storytelling is compelling, and the way he writes always makes you want to read on to find out what happens next. Truly engaging!

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And finally, @WinT0L0ss, also competing in his fourth season. Over time, Will has shown remarkable improvement and is proof of how much this community can help writers develop their communication skills.

From thrilling CHYOA stories to insightful articles, satire, and heartfelt real-life reflections, his blogs are always a pleasure to read, no matter what the topic is. Very versatile!

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As you can probably imagine, the judges had an incredibly difficult task. I asked them to rank the three blogs, and their responses say it all:

This is really hard.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀@nbrasington

If the final order ends up being the exact opposite of mine, it still wouldn't be absurd.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀@PokeGirl93

Gave it my best shot, but agree that all three are worthy of gold.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀@KevinChessSmith

I would put everyone in the first place if I could.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀@ChocoCaramelPawn

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Well, luckily, this is the kind of good problem to have! After much deliberation and effort to make the fairest decision possible, we concluded that the final podium would be as follows:

Gold: @WinT0L0ss

Silver: @theeldest1

Bronze: @DocSimooo

Congratulations once again to all three of you! When I introduced the three-player Blog Bowl format, I was not sure how it would turn out, but you have just proven that it absolutely works. This may well have been the most exciting final in the club’s history!

I sincerely hope the Chess.com staff will consider awarding you guys the Top Blogger badge, as you have more than earned it, along with many others in this amazing community.

And with that, we conclude an unforgettable season.

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4 - Spin-Off Contests

Now that we have covered everything about Season 10, I have some more news to share! Firstly, this year, the other admins and I have decided to try holding spin-off contests in the club. Everyone can take part in them, even after being eliminated from the season. But what exactly are they?

These competitions will usually be held on special dates throughout the year, and participants will be asked to write blog posts relating to both the date and, obviously, chess.

Regular readers of my blog will already be aware of the first edition: the Valentine’s Day Contest, which took place on 14 February and received 16 excellent submissions. If you are not familiar with it, click here to see the results.

This first experience was so successful that the staff decided to continue organizing similar competitions. The next one is coming up soon on 1 April (April Fool's Day). I hope that anyone planning to submit is already working on their posts. We can’t wait to read them!

“Oh my God, Vanessa! That sounds amazing! I wish I had known about it before! I can't join this one, but I would love to submit an entry for a future contest. Will there be more?"

Don’t worry, dear imaginary, curious readers. The answer is yes! I plan to host at least five throughout the year. While nothing is set in stone yet, here are some of the ideas we are considering:

• World Chocolate Day - July 7th
• Bad Poetry Day - August 18th
• Talk Like a Pirate Day - September 19th
• Thanksgiving – October 4th
• Halloween - October 31st
• Christmas - December 25th

If you are interested in any of them, feel free to start brainstorming ideas and even begin writing. However, please bear in mind that only blogs published on the specified date will be accepted, so save them as drafts until the competition officially begins.

Although they are obviously not as prestigious as the regular seasons, we also offer prizes to encourage more people to join. Still, I think the most exciting thing about them is not winning or losing, but exercising your creativity and research skills, as well as enjoying the posts and out-of-the-box ideas of other bloggers.

But if you think that is the best news of the day, you are wrong! Get ready, because I have something very exciting to share with you in the next chapter!

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5 - Official Badge

Obviously, I saved the best for last! 2026 has got off to a great start for BlogChamps for a variety of reasons, but the icing on the cake came in late February. If you don't know what I mean, here it is.

Chess.com hosts some official Community Leagues. These are leagues that provide great opportunities to represent your nation, state, city, and communities in different types of chess, including daily, vote, and live formats.

They are not run by Chess.com staff, but by admins and volunteers on the platform. In other words, ordinary users like you and me.

However, as you might have guessed, their focus is more on playing chess itself rather than on some other aspects of the game. This is the scenario that @Wind, the staff member responsible for selecting community leagues, wanted to change.

He saw BlogChamps as a great way to show players that there is much more to enjoy chess than just playing it. We messaged each other about giving it the official badge. I then made the necessary formal requests, and voilà!

On 27 February 2026, the competition received the recognition seal from the website, as can be seen from the fancy green stamp now shining next to its name.

Therefore, we are now one of the few clubs whose tournaments are not chess-related, which makes this achievement even more special! When I took over the club, I never imagined something so cool.

This was only possible, of course, because the staff noticed how engaged and respectful our members are, how big the community has become, and how much fun the competitions provide for the bloggers.

So, thanks to everyone who made it possible! You are all part of that, and I am very proud of you!

Practical changes? For now, almost none. This is not related to any changes, but rather recognition of the good work. This means that they expect us to continue being what we are: a friendly and welcoming community that all writers can enjoy.

But do you think that's all? Well, I have some other great news to share.

Earlier today, four BlogChamps' members were given the Top Blogger badge! Congratulations to:

• @KevinChessSmith: Click here to read his blogs
• @JustGettingThisOffMyChess: Click here to read his blogs
• @PokeGirl93: Click here to read her blogs
• @WinT0L0ss: Click here to read his blogs

Go check their blogs and you will not regret!

Additionally, thanks to the efforts of one of our admins, @AstroTheoretical_Physics, we reached 1,000 members a few days ago!

A nice milestone, a growing community, new Top Bloggers, and an official badge to top it all off! I would say BlogChamps is in a pretty good place right now. And honestly? We are just getting started.

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6 - Conclusion

Thank you for joining me on this journey through the past few months at BlogChamps! As you can see, lots of amazing things happened in a very short space of time, and there is much more ahead. We will not stop until we are accepted into the Olympic Games by the IOC!

Jokes aside, our plan is to continue growing by finding new bloggers and welcoming motivated people to our community. Hopefully, some of these new faces will even receive the Top Blogger badge in the future!

If you are already a member of the club, thank you again for being part of what we have built together. No matter how hard I try to guide everything, it is ultimately the collective strength of everyone involved that makes us so great.

And if you are not a member yet, I honestly have no idea what you are waiting for! Join us, write blogs, take part in Season 11 and the Spin-off Contests, or simply read and watch if you don't want to compete. The most important thing for us is to engage as many users as possible.

Everyone is welcome!

That’s all for today. See you again in 15 days!