Wonderfully Useless

I'm a huge fan of wonderfully useless things. I admire the dedication and passion required to make something that has such little practical value.

Check out this video...it was made with stop-motion photography using tiny paper cut-outs.



What does this have to do with chess shirts? Well, nothing really.

Damn it, I'm going to enjoy this...

Wanna see my picture on the cover
Gonna buy five copies for my mother
Wanna see my smiling face
On the cover of Rolling Stone

Maybe it's not my face and Rolling Stone, but it is my t-shirt and Chess Life.

HUGE THANKS to Grandmaster Robert Hess for sporting the shirt. We had no idea that GM Hess was a fan. I emailed him to say "thanks" and he informed me that he owns 6 of our shirts. Wow...there is no greater compliment.

Chess Life is the official publication of the United States Chess Federation and has been published since 1946.


Want to know why Bobby Fischer stopped playing chess? No cool chess t-shirts to wear. Fact.

Against Me!

Only a few more days until one of my favorite bands, Against Me!, releases a new album.

The album comes out on June 8th, but the video for their first single is up on their website right now.

Their 2001 album, Reinventing Axl Rose, is one of my all-time favorites.

Not sure if these guys play chess, but they are OK in my book.

Can't wait!

No Words...

Drunk Chess History

The great chess games of our past are always framed with a background filled with conflicting political ideologies, international affairs and exotic locales. And all of the players are always so sharply dressed...who cares if they all died penniless and alone?

The chess public owes a debt of gratitude to the chess journalists who tirelessly bring us these great tales from the past.

One of these journalist goes by the name of Blunderprone. Not only is Blunderprone a first class chess historian, but he is also an all-around great guy. In this Internet age, we are in contact with many people in many locations. Unfortunately, we do not always get to meet these people face to face.

Someday I will meet Blunderprone. And when I do, I'm going to buy him a few drinks and get him to talk about some chess history.

It might go something like this...

U.S. Chess Championship

Have you been following the U.S. Chess Championship in St. Louis? If not, make sure to check it out!

We are starting the second part of the tournament today and so far there have been some great games but not too many surprises. I'm really looking forward to the next few days as there should be some great fighting games to come.

We also want to wish some extra special good luck to the Endgame enthusiasts: Shankland, Akobian and Nakamura.

There are many places to catch the action, but if you want to go straight to the source, the official website is here.

Endgame Endorses Karpov

Election time, kids!!

Stay tuned, more to follow...

Hide Your Arms

One of the good (and bad) things about the Internet is that people are always talking about you without your knowledge. I just came across this posting. It is from a t-shirt site called "Hide Your Arms."

I always love to see non-chess people appreciate the shirts.

Check it out real quick...HERE.

Chess Crimes

Unfortunately, Endgame Clothing has become one of the countless victims of credit card fraud. According to the U.S. government, credit card fraud costs consumers several billions of dollars each year. In our case, two different females ordered several of our girls' chess t-shirts in December of last year and had them shipped to the same business address in Miami, Florida. These two orders were identified as fraudulent in February of this year and the corresponding funds were removed from the Endgame bank accounts. There is no real closure to this...we are out the money and the shirts and the girls are still at large.

Now is it just me? Or does the idea of two Miami girls, buying chess t-shirts with a stolen credit card, sound kind of hot?

The account you read above contains the straight facts. But based on some follow-up investigations, this is what probably happened:

These two girls worked in the same office building for the same company. Suffocating in jobs they were told they should be grateful to have, they happened upon their boss's credit card one day. Never being particularly impressed with his intellect or character, they decided to take some liberties. Knowing that they would surely be fired upon the discovery of their transactions, they viewed these next purchases as the starting point from which the rest of their lives would blossom. In deciding where to perpetrate the crime, they both blurted at the same time, "Endgame!" Jinx...now they were both in this together. It can be dangerous when two girls like this get together. If Bonnie's twin sister had not died at birth, the world would never have had a need for Clyde.

The next few days were the difficult ones. These were the days when the girls could almost taste their new lives, but were forced to wait for the shipment to be delivered from the Endgame Clothing headquarters in Orange County, California. They remained patient with the satisfaction of knowing that when those shirts were delivered, they would also be delivered new lives.

When the shirts did arrive, they exceeded even their greatest expectations...never before had they seen chess shirts of such amazing quality and design. The second the shirts touched their skin, they knew there was no way they could ever go back. Running down the hallway to their boss's office, they were reminded of the prime years spent sleepwalking day after day through that office building.

Bursting open the door to their boss's office, they saw it in the corner. Just like the exotic sports car he polishes but never drives, like the vintage wines he brags about but never drinks, his antique chess set with 1,500 years of tradition and history just sat in the corner of his office and was never played. The asshole didn't even know how to play. So for the girls' final moments in that office...breathing recirculated air under stale fluorescent lights, they played some blitz. They played hard and pounded the shit out of that board. Some pieces were bent, some were broken, and one of the girls swore she saw a knight smile as they walked out the door.

Famished and exhilarated, they stopped at a raw bar for lunch. Feasting on oysters and beer, they planned the rest of their lives. Lives of adventure; lives of freedom; lives of love. Especially love. Love was the twisted conspiracy that Fischer could never uncover and the eternal equation that Alekhine could never solve. The dreams became as intoxicating as the brew. And when the dreams translated into giggly screams, they were asked to lower their voices. They responded by standing on their table and laughing. Laughing at the quiet people. Laughing at the serious people. Laughing at the one hour lunch-break people.

It is unclear if they paid for their meal, but the restaurant owner was satisfied to see them leave. As they sped away, they saw a teenage boy standing alone at a bus stop holding a trophy. Winning his high school chess championship with no celebration and no ride home, he jumped into the car. On his way home, the girls stole his virginity, but left him with a memory that he would fondly recall on his deathbed 64 years later.

As the sun began to set, the girls knew they were at the beginning of something special. There were a few victims along the way, but all was a sacrifice for the greater good. Smelling of sweat and excitement, they ran into the night to start their new lives.

Their names are Ashlee and Vanessa. So if you see two girls walking around Miami in Endgame shirts, tell them to drop me a postcard. And maybe some pictures.

Male Models

The Male model, Dan, took 10 minutes to find. He's a guy I work with. I think he liked the idea of being a model, but was worried that his buddies would bust his balls if they found out...and modeling for a chess t-shirt company probably didn't help.

Whereas the Female model shows up with an entourage to do her hair and makeup, the Male model shows up after playing beach volleyball all day and decides to substitute beer for sunscreen. But what the Male model may lack in preparedness and dedication to his craft, he makes up for with the funny. You see, you've got to have a lot of funny if you are going to ask some dude to put on a chess t-shirt and take pictures.

With the Female model, I feel some pressure to make sure she realizes that Endgame is legit. With Dan, we just go out and shoot. However, there was a point where I came close to having a mutiny on my hands. It involved this picture:


Both Dan and the photographer thought the concept was lame. But I had the vision in my head and in my head the shot worked. I thought it would be funny and playful. All in all, I think it turned out ok...especially when you consider that I had an unwilling model and photographer!

Here's another equation for you: