Kia ora, competitors and spectators!

It is the Christmas season! Although I know we have many different religions and countries represented in our very cool club full of diversity, I would like to begin this announcement by wishing you and your families a Merry Christmas! May this special time of the year be filled with peace and love for everyone. I hope you can enjoy the second most important event of the day with your loved ones.

And why second? Because we all know that the most important thing today is the results of the BlogChamps Final Four and the Season 7 Awards! So let's stop keeping you waiting and get to the part you came here to read!

Once again we had some excellent blogs that lived up to their semi-finalist status! I would like to thank the four contestants for their amazing work, and the judges (except for the Kiwi girl) for their quick and fair decisions. Below is a summary of the two matches and the final results. As always, the comments here will focus on the positive aspects, and more detailed feedback for each blog will be posted in a separate forum.

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Group A: @RookMindset vs. @DavidGaming08

@RookMindset has come up with a very interesting blog about three seemingly winning endgame positions that cannot be won despite a big material advantage. In addition to the informative chess lessons and historical examples, the text also has a great deal of humour which makes it a very entertaining read. (https://www.chess.com/blog/RookMindset/the-winning-endgame-that-cant-be-won)

@DavidGaming08 has written a blog about the FIDE Circuit 2024, which gives the winner a place in the next Candidates Tournament. The blog explains how the scoring system works and which players still have a chance to win their spot in the last tournaments of the year. A nice read that makes a somewhat complex topic quite simple and enjoyable. Good job! (https://www.chess.com/blog/DavidGaming08/chasing-the-candidates-the-high-stakes-race-of-the-fide-circuit)

Both competitors have had amazing seasons and have written blogs that have given us some serious headaches in deciding the winner. Certainly, they both did an amazing job and deserve it almost equally! However, we cannot change the rules now to allow 3 finalists, so only one of them can go on. The first finalist is:

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Group B: @NDpatzer vs. @JustGettingThisOffMyChess

@NDpatzer has written another one of his amazing scientific research articles about chess and human perception. I'm sure you've heard the expression "computer move", but do you know what it is and whether we can actually identify it? And how? A very nice blog that explores this question and gives some great insights! (https://www.chess.com/blog/bjbalas/can-you-tell-a-human-opponent-from-a-machine)

@JustGettingThisOffMyChess has brought up another of his classic humorous blogs, this time discussing the true origins of our beloved game. Could it have been invented by aliens? And if so, what is the most likely explanation for why they decided to teach us chess? Find out the answers and much more in his great blog! A very pleasant and entertaining read! (https://www.chess.com/blog/JustGettingThisOffMyChess/was-chess-invented-by-aliens)

And who will be the second finalist? Tough decision, as it was a very close match to vote. I dare say that this could easily be a final and still live up to expectations. Unfortunately, we could only choose one of them to move on, and the judges have decided that the winner of the second semi-final is:

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Congratulations to the two finalists! And to the two who were eliminated (whose names I won't mention because I'm strategically writing this template long before the submissions are even available and won't be updating it later), don't be sad. I know it's disappointing, but you made it to the semifinals in one of the greatest and toughest seasons this club has ever had! I hope you enjoyed competing and had fun. Unfortunately, only one out of 56 can win in the end, but you should be proud of such a great run. I hope to see you come back even stronger in Season 8!

Below you can find the updated bracket:

If you are qualified, please confirm your participation in the "Blog Bowl", as we are calling the final match this season, by writing a short comment in this announcement, or sending me a DM. Below is the link to the closed forum with the detailed feedback for the four blogs. As always, feel free to drop me a DM if you need more details or tips: 

Season 7 Final Four Feedback Forum

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SEASON 7 AWARDS

And now for the long-awaited Season 7 Awards, a tradition of BlogChamps since the very beginning, brought back by @AstroTheoretical_Physics in Season 6. Just to be clear, the categories will be the same as last season, but I have also added the ones that are awarded in the "Blogger Awards v2.0", bringing the total to 15.

Also, the medalists in each category were not chosen by the judges, but by me alone. So yes, it is authoritarian, undemocratic, and presumptuous, but the thing is, it would take a lot of time for 5 people to vote among so many blogs, and I swear I tried my best to be fair and honest in my choices.

I understand disagreements, but once again, let us not forget that this is just for fun. Oh, and your prize(s) for winning the gold medal in any of the categories is absolutely nothing but self-esteem and recognition! (Sorry, I am only an ATC and cannot offer U$25 to everyone).

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BLOG PRIZES

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BEST TITLE OF THE SEASON

Gold: @Afghan-Jalebi - The Art of Chesspionage

Silver: @Alberthepirate - Why You Suck At Chess Like Me!

Bronze: @WinT0L0ss - The Knightmare Escape Room

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BEST TOPIC OF THE SEASON

Gold: @NDpatzer - Science of Chess: What happens in the brain when we see the best move?

Silver: @Duckfest - Game Review Common Confusion

Bronze: @Afghan-Jalebi - The Art of Chesspionage

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BEST SATIRE/HUMOR OF THE SEASON

Gold: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess - So you're Bad at Chess: A Demotional Guide to Accepting your Place in the World of Chess

Silver: @Duckfest - Guess the Elo on the chess forums

Bronze: @Alberthepirate - Why You Suck At Chess Like Me!

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BEST ANALYSIS OF THE SEASON

Gold: @BugMeLater - Hans' Return to Chess

Silver: @RookMindset - Geza Maroczy's Strange Legacy

Bronze: @DavidGaming08 - The Champion Pawn Classic - and My Return To Classical Over-The-Board Chess

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MOST ENGAGING BLOG OF THE SEASON

Gold: @WinT0L0ss - The Knightmare Escape Room

Silver: @DocSimooo - THE 8TH RANK

Bronze: @Duckfest - Game Review Common Confusion

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BEST WRITING OF THE SEASON

Gold: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess - 52 Questions I Would Ask a Grandmaster

Silver: @ghefley - The Narrative Annotation Story: Memory and Narrative

Bronze: @DocSimooo - Living Chess 

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BEST EDITING OF THE SEASON

Gold: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess - So you're Bad at Chess: A Demotional Guide to Accepting your Place in the World of Chess

Silver: @Alina_Bakhtina_24 - The most unusual chess tournaments

Bronze: @Nguyen-LongNhat - Ⅳ-Chess is unmatched and so much more.

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BEST THUMBNAIL OF THE SEASON

Gold: @BugMeLater - Hans' Return to Chess

Silver: @Bid - European Chess History: From Past to Present

Bronze: @EthanJojy - Computers in Chess

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BEST BLOG OF THE SEASON

Gold: @Duckfest - Game Review Common Confusion

Silver: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess - 52 Questions I Would Ask a Grandmaster

Bronze: @RookMindset - Winning the Most Draining Chess Tournament

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BLOGGER PRIZES

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ROOKIE OF THE SEASON

Gold: @DavidGaming08

Silver: @RookMindset

Bronze: @NDpatzer

David wins as the one who reached the final and, in my humble opinion, Rook had a slightly better season overall than Patzer, especially considering the qualifiers.

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MOST IMPROVED BLOGGER

Gold: @DavidGaming08

Silver: @WinT0L0ss

Bronze: @LonelyMadMonkey (his old account)

Here I considered what I had seen from these bloggers before the season started, based on previous blogs that I had read from them.

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SURPRISE OF THE SEASON

Gold: @DocSimooo

Silver: @Afghan-Jalebi

Bronze: @Alina_Bakhtina_24

It sounds similar to the last category, but here I am looking at bloggers who have either gone further than I imagined or who I had no idea how good they could be and performed very well.

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COMEBACK BLOGGER OF THE SEASON

Gold: @Duckfest

Silver: @Bid

Bronze: @SavageOppress

Bloggers who are veterans of the club and have made an epic comeback after one or more seasons away from the main stage.

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MOST UNDERRATED BLOGGER

Gold: @Nguyen-LongNhat

Silver: @ghefley

Bronze: @JugadaBrillante

Bloggers who I saw almost no one praising or having expecations that could do well, but who posted pretty good blogs.

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BLOGGER OF THE SEASON (Updated after the final match)

Gold: @JustGettingThisOffMyChess

Silver: @DavidGaming08

Bronze: @NDpatzer & @RookMindset

Above I wrote that, in my opinion, Rook had a slightly better season than Patzer, but since we don't have a bronze medal match to decide, both have the right to claim this one.

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Click here to check out the medal table!

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BLOG BOWL KICKOFF

Now it is time for the greatest event of the chess blogging community, the BlogChamps finals, the Blog Bowl! 56 bloggers started the season, only 2 have survived, and they will now compete for the Zachary Isaac Snow II Trophy on the biggest stage! Both are only one blog away from the highest glory of the chess blogging universe, which will bring them a Top Blogger recommendation from me, and also the mega incredible prize of U$25!

The Blog Bowl is officially open and the rules are again very simple: 

• You have until January 11th 23:59 EST (Eastern Standard Time) to submit your blog in the following forum: Submission Forum - Season 7 Blog Bowl

• I'm giving you 18 days again. Make sure you post the best blog you can and do it on time! This is the last match, so give it your best shot and you can be sure it will be worth it because there's very little left to do.

• Also, it is never too much to remind you: Please don't forfeit. I don't really need to explain why a forfeit now would be a disaster, right?

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That's all, folks! As always, I'm open to questions in the comments or via DM. And if you're one of the two finalists, get ready because I'll be sending you some reminders soon LOL.  

Good luck to you all, and I'll see you back with the Blog Bowl results!