Congrats to IM Shankland!

Sam Shankland moved onto the semi-finals in the 2009 US State Champions of Champions by completely dominating his field with a score of 9.5/10!!

The semi-finals will take place on April 4th. More info can be found here.

Congrats, Sam!

The Future of Chess?

Chess.com has over 500,000 members and is adding over a thousand new ones each day. This is an absolutely amazing feat when you consider that the site was only launched about a year and half ago. I remember checking it out briefly when it first came out, but it didn't seem like anything special. And it really wasn't, but much like a 15 year old IM, they have been improving on a daily basis.

I feel a little embarrassed that I didn't realize how powerful this community has become. I have always been a US Chess Federation kind of guy. And it might be a completely inbred, dysfunctional family, but it was my family. And even though mom and dad always argue and have taught me to have extremely low expectations which they continously fail to meet, I have stuck with them. I mean, they are the sanctioning body for chess in the United States...you can't get any better than that, right?

But damn...look at Chess.com. They have everything! It is a completely integrated online home for chess players. Playing chess can be a very cold and lonely endeavor at times and I think that is why the game loses so many of its casual players. But Chess.com has made a very comfortable place to hang out and find mentors and friends.

The visionary behind all of this is a guy named Erik. He has put his heart and soul into this chess community and it shows. But he isn't just some guy who runs the site and holds his constituents in contempt...he is an active part of the community. The amazing thing is that if there are any problems with the site, he is the first one to accept blame and ask the members for help and suggestions for improvement. His openness and transparency of action is not only endearing, but makes the members feel like they are all part of the journey. The USCF could learn a thing or two (or two million) from Erik and Chess.com.

Is this face the future of chess?

Oh, and Erik also wrote some very cool things about Endgame Clothing. You can check out the whole thing...here.

Rise Against and Chess

You don't think chess is in the mainstream? Well, think again!

For those of you out of the loop, this bombshell came out a while ago, but I have been waiting for the rest of the International Chess News Corp to pick up on it. I figured this would have been a huge story! I guess I'll just have to report it myself...

The popular rock band, Rise Against, released their fifth studio album in October of last year. The name of the album is "Appeal to Reason" and it premiered at #3 on the Billboard 200. The album was immediately embraced as a critical and commercial success.

While this is all well and good, people seem to have overlooked the real importance of this album. It employs major chess imagery. Watch out Wu Tang! There's a new band on the block for chess players to desperately look to for validation on the musical landscape.

So without any further ado, I present what I am calling "See? It told you chess is cool #47 "...

What's that? You don't see anything? Well, look a little closer...

My high school years have been officially vindicated! I knew I was cool...I fucking knew it! I just didn't know I was ahead of my time. Here we have a successful band (but not too successful...we don't want to lose street cred) showing some heavy chess love.

So why does Rise Against have a bishop on their album cover?

No. I'm asking you, "Why does Rise Against have a bishop on their album cover?" Because I don't know. I have messaged them on Myspace, but haven't heard anything back. I'll let you know if there are any late breaking developments, but right now I need to go set the record straight with a few girls from high school that didn't understand what a visionary I was...

By the way, both the band and this album are great. And although it lacks the chess imagery, their previous album "The Sufferer and The Witness" is a favorite of mine.

Endgame's Next Top Chess Model

I thought it would be super easy to find a model for Endgame Clothing. I mean, isn't modeling for a chess clothing company a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? Doesn't every model dream of just getting the chance? Apparently not.

But let's not focus on the negatives here or how I was turned down so much it felt like high school all over again...let's talk about the positives...

After many failed attempts, dead ends and flakes, I found Jazmin. And she is wonderful. She was always prompt to reply to emails, was on time for the photo shoot...and did I mention she stands 6 feet tall in heels?

Now you might be cynically asking yourself if she plays chess? Haha, does she play chess? Hell ya...she knows how the pieces move!! Her 5th grade teacher taught the whole class...but she hasn't played since ;-(

I will continue to rotate more pictures of Jazmin at our main website http://www.endgameclothing.com/ so stop by and check them out, blogger doesn't quite do them justice...

Endgame Reviews

There have been some great product reviews out there in cyberspace and I wanted to share a few with you guys. The two below are particulary cool because both are from non-chess related sites...

This first is a video review by Coty Gonzales. All this guy does is review t-shirts...he has seen a million of them...he eats t-shirts and craps cotton...let's see what he has to say about two of the Endgame shirts...


Glorious Nonsensities 2x06: Crazy Bananas, Endgame Clothing and Chess from Coty Gonzales on Vimeo.

In addition to the video, Coty interviewed me one-on-one for his "Indie Tee Spotlight"...this can be found here.

We were also mentioned on MilitantGeek.com, who reviews "T-Shirts for a Geek Friendly Future." Here's what they had to say:

"Chess geeks have had it rough. When somebody would go and attempt to make some game inspired gear it usually turned out on the french-horn-in band side of extracurricular lame. Not John. John started his shop, EndGame Clothing with a mission: create chess inspired shirts that would be equally at home raiding the frat house as they would be castling. That’s quite an accomplishment."

Back From the Tourney

What did you learn this weekend? Well, I learned that there are certain people that don't like Endgame t-shirts. As I sat at my vendor table, at the U.S. Amateur Team West tournament, I was treated to several looks of contempt as people passed by. One man even said that one of my shirts was in "poor taste." Really? Dude, have you looked in the mirror in the past 10 years? That tie is in poor taste.

But for every person that didn't like my shirts, there were 2 that loved them. This was great and I want to thank everyone who came by to say, "hi." In particular, there were a group of guys from Cal State Northridge who where totally stoked to see my shirts and I even met 2 people who follow this blog!

This was my first attempt to promote Endgame in the offline world. I took a few pictures of my vendor table posted them in the draft for this blog entry, but after seeing them, I took down the pictures...they look too boring. I can now see that my set-up really failed to capture the majesty that is Endgame Clothing. I'm not going to let that happen again...I have some great ideas for next time.

By the way, the shirt that was in "poor taste" was my second best seller.

Photo Shoot

Last night we had a photo shoot for Endgame Clothing. The photographer and model were awesome! I can't wait to see the pics...check back soon!

U.S. Amateur Team West Tournament

Endgame Clothing is taking its game on the street!

I will be peddlin' my wares and pimpin' my shirts at the 24th annual U.S. Amateur Team West tournament on Saturday, February 14th. The tournament will be held at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills, CA. Be sure to come by and say, "Hi!"

More info about the tournament can be found here.

Worst Job in the World

A friend of mine decided to ditch work a few weeks back and bought a lottery ticket. Bam!! The guy wins $20,000 on a scratcher.

So he goes to the dreary government building to claim his winning. Sitting behind the counter is the most miserable person in the world.

Here is a little bit of my friend's conversation with this person...

My Friend: When does the confetti fall from the ceiling?

Lottery Employee: What confetti, sir?

My Friend: There should be confetti that falls from the ceiling when a big winner like me comes around. Come on, where is it?

Lottery Employee: (No answer. Just a dead blank stare. She cuts my friend a check who then studies the check very closely for a full minute.)

My Friend: Oh, this can't be right.

Lottery Employee: What do you mean?

My Friend: This check is too small.

Lottery Employee: No, sir, it is for $20,000...exactly the amount you won.

My Friend: No, I mean, the check is too small. Where is the big check, the huge one that I have to carry with two hands?

Lottery Employee: What?

My Friend: You know, that 4 foot long one.

Lottery Employee: That is only for ceremonies.

My Friend: Is there a suggestion box around here? I think you guys should make some changes...

I was cracking up when my friend told me this story, but can you image how soul crushing it must be to sit behind a counter all day and just hand out lottery winning?

So what does this have to do with chess? Well...nothing, really.

Current Chess Scene - part one

One of my biggest gripes about the chess scene today is that there is no adult chess experience. I'm not talking about some obscure European chess porn (but if you have some, feel free to email john@endgameclothing.com ;-)), but I am talking about being able to enjoy and discuss chess in an adult context.

In organized chess today, the scholastic programs make up the majority of the members of the United States Chess Federation. And on one level, that is a great thing; the Federation needs every member it can get. But as a result, the Federation has created an environment that is wwaaayyyy too kid friendly. We are so busy kissing their prepubescent asses and trying to keep their parents happy that we end up trying to please everyone from ages 5 to 95. This is an impossible task!

So what we all get is a big serving of bland, boring, uninteresting dullness. Is it any wonder why so many people drop out of the chess scene after a few years? Unless you have completely dedicated your life to the game, are an 8 year old, or the overprotective parent of an 8 year old, I just don't many things that hold the attention of the casual player. The casual player needs to be given some other type of social reward or fulfillment.

Now don't get me wrong...I like kids, I have kids and I even used to be a kid. And I believe that if kids are around, then everyone has a personal responsibility to set the best example possible. But sometimes I also like to curse and get pissed that I hung a piece for the thousandth fucking time!

I am here to say that this squeaky clean one-image-fits-all is wrong! I am here to say that is one of the MAJOR reasons that chess in America is in such a sorry state!

And this is one of the reasons I started Endgame Clothing...that's right, dear reader, to save chess!!!


End Part One