Marketing Time! Part II
- Chess Friends Books
- Oct 17
- 3 min read
Howdy! It’s the Chess Friends!
Can you believe it? It's already been a month since our book Q&A Chess Tournament Edition has been out!
We debuted #1 in category and have ten ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ reviews on Amazon! We also made hoodies with help from our dear friend FM Megan Lee and her Cloth Tattoo and Snippet Studios businesses, a bunch of “You got this!” Peshka stickers, and this amazing giant Peshka standee!
This past weekend, The Chess Friends participated in the WA Challenger’s Cup tournament, run alongside the WA Women’s Championship, while also setting up a little Popup Shop to share our Q&A Chess book!
In the Challenger Cup packed with Expert-level players (2000 USCF-rated), there was a lot to learn, but The Man Benji also got a win and a draw, while The Myth Sarang got a draw! In one of Benji’s learning games, his opponent played an unusual line in the Vienna opening: Paulsen Variation, though the system is also known as the Glek. It goes like this: 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3!?
An interesting choice where White fianchettoes the bishop, castles kingside, and aims for f4! This variation usually results in a tactically messy position, and that’s what happened! You can watch a more detailed explanation of the Glek System on GM Daniel Naroditsky's youtube channel.
The cherry on top, though, was winning the “Best Dressed Award” with these awesome hoodies!
Meanwhile, The Legend Vivaan focused on the shop, and, together, we sold 15 books and 10 hoodies, not to mention tons of stickers and shared smiles with big Peshka! Most importantly, we made a lot of new friends and hopefully helped out a bunch of new chess tournament players!
If you see a big Peshka around at your next tournament, there’s a good chance you’ll find us there! We have invites to share books in British Columbia, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Illinois, Ohio, and Turkey, and hope to eventually go to all of them!
Already on the calendar are rapid and blitz events in early November in Langley, BC, as well as a big Book Event at Third Place Books Lake Forest Park on Monday December 1st! We hope to see many of you there!
If you’re able to come, please RSVP! (Fun fact: RSVP comes from French! It stands for Répondez S’il Vous Plaît, meaning Please Respond!) Of course, if you come to any of our events, you’ll be able to get signed copies of our book and a picture with Peshka!
Our online presence is growing fast too. Our interview with @KenLeeJazz has over 13,800 views! The Chess Friends Blog is also going places and has been read in 27 countries! Here are the flags of the countries in order of most views. Can you identify them all?
The countries in blue have read our stuff! How amazing is that?! Thanks for all the support!
How about we leave you with a few jokes, Q&A Chess Tournament Edition style!
Why did The Chess Friends wear warm clothes while writing their book?
Because there were a lot of drafts!
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How did The Chess Friends like working with the editor?
It was a rewording experience!
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How did they like working with the illustrator?
It was great! She always made a good canvas-ation!
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In Q&A Chess, have you seen Peshka with a ring posing as Gollum from Lord of the Rings?
Yeah, I know what you're Tolkien about!
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Will The Chess Friends write another edition of Q&A Chess?
They'll book into it!
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What happens when the Chess Friends are late for their round?
They book it!
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Why doesn't giant Peshka wear a belt?
It's a waist of paper!
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Three Cheers, Fellow Future Master Chess Friends!
The Man Benji, The Myth Sarang, The Legend Vivi
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