Step up the trolling, this thread might actually lead to a legitimate conversation.
Do chess players ever endorse companies that make chess sets?
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I've learned a lesson from this thread and my previous one - don't create threads in the Chess Players forum. They won't get any traction. I suspect this may have to do with chess.com getting rid of "Most Recent Posts" in V3, where threads from all forums other than Off Topic are equally visible. Now General Chess Discussion is clearly the forum that you want to post in, if you want to maximize the visibility of your threads.
Lol
I still have a 'most recent posts' box on v3...
Anyway, chess just isn't conducive to endorsements and the like, or at least not anywhere near to the extent that other games/sports are.
Nor is it, according to the masses, as interesting of a 'spectator game/sport' when compared to almost all others.
Chess is, by and large, considered "nerdy" -- having a champion "nerd" endorsing brands isn't the best business decision...unless we're talking about chess products...but how often does one need to buy a new board or clock?
Imagine this:
Nakamura is generally considered to have a colorful personality compared to most chess players, right? So House of Staunton partners up with him and comes out with a "Nakamura set," where the colors, instead of black and white, are green and hot pink. How cool would that be?
Kasparov used to endorse computers, e.g.:
They always included a picture of Gary at his absolute smuggest:
I bet he cringes every time he sees it
macer75 wrote:
It seems like the natural thing to do, both for the players and for the companies. The company pays the player some money, and the player appears in ads for the company, and maybe even has a set named after him. It would be the chess equivalent of athletes endorsing sneakers, or musicians endorsing Beats by Dr. Dre.
What about Beets by Dr. Dre?
What about a Donald Duck chess set with Magnus endorsing it?
There is a Judith Polgar set at ChessHouse. Very nice, albeit pricey
It seems like the natural thing to do, both for the players and for the companies. The company pays the player some money, and the player appears in ads for the company, and maybe even has a set named after him. It would be the chess equivalent of athletes endorsing sneakers, or musicians endorsing Beats by Dr. Dre.