Chess Gorilla

10/31/2024

I need some help. We are getting close on my new scorekeeping app and I need to find someone that is proficient with both the Google App Store and the Apple App Store platforms.

Being someone one step above clubbing his food for dinner, it would be helpful to have someone comfortable with the platform showing me what I need to do and how to do it.

Any of my friends out there put an app on either of the 2 platforms? Would sure appreciate the help.

Contact me at the shop phone 585-442-2430.

Thanks
Shelby Lohrman
Chess Gorilla

09/30/2024

For those of you who have been following my projects you will know that I have 2 main ones, my clock project and my app project. Both are exciting and could help chess tremendously.

On the clock project I have been working with one of my favorite families that ever came through the chess center. This dad took my clock ideas overseas, sourced the factory, flew over there and met with the owners and developers at the factory, and helped me get this project done. You know who you are and I am truly blessed to have you and your family in our lives.

These clock samples will be here tomorrow. I just received notice from DHL that they are in Rochester and I will be receiving them tomorrow. Just because the samples are here does not mean I will have them in stock anytime soon. I HOPE that I will have some for the holiday season...but that would be a stretch. There is a chance...but the factory will not promise anything. We will be testing the programming, opening them up to check out the soldering and construction, freezing and baking them to test their limits (we do live in Rochester NY...it gets COLD), and multiple other tests before approving the factory to run our first order.

On the app side, we are progressing smoothly. My team is telling me I will have a fully functional app and scorebooks in enough time for the SuperNationals. It would be nice to have the scorebooks in this timeframe, but I will need help from the crew. We need to make sure our "Ducks are in a row" so to say. I do NOT want a repeat of what happened to Joey Troy and the ChessNoteR.

This is what we need:
1) Someone(s) on the USCF EBoard that I can show this project to.
2) Another person or persons on the Scholastic council.
3) Same as above for the TDCC committee.

I (we) need to make sure that everyone is comfortable with the system. With input from people at all 3 levels of the USCF I would like to think that no hurdles would be placed in front of my system. This is something that I have been trying to get done for over a decade. The last thing I want is any unforeseen problems with the ruling body blocking something like this.

This system uses re-formatted paper scoresheets to notate games. In conjunction with my app which will .pgn your games for you and upload them to your favorite analysis engine.

Also looking for a good patent attorney that hopefully plays chess.

If you want to help, call me at the work number at 585-442-2430. I would say to call the cell, but I downloaded a "Spam Call Blocker" called "RoboKiller". They block automated calls. They block ALL calls from phone numbers that are not in your contact list. Working on that right now.

07/24/2024

hey all, the knight lights have been selling well lately so I decided on setting up a full set in the Chess Center to see what our chess campers thought of the full set laid out for them to play with.
Since we are upstate NY people, we Chose the Red and Blue for the Bills.

Would LOVE to hear what you think. We only have a limited number of the boards in stock, so the run is limited. There are TONS of the Knight lights.

Price for the Full set without the extra queens is $479 plus shipping. Shipping to the continental USA would be $40.

Let me know if this is something that you might need for your club.

Thanks
Shelby Lohrman
Chess Gorilla
Rochester Chess Center
562-225-8324 C

06/28/2024

Hey everyone, have a summer special going on some overstock cubes. We did a batch for Alan Losoff and Glen Panner with the National Open and I have 334 extra cubes from the event.

They do the National Open guys no good since the event is done, so he asked me to blow them out. They normally sell at $4.50/each wholesale for the Gorilla Cubes. I will sell these at $3.50/each plus shipping. If someone wants to take all of them I will cut them an even better price.

I will NOT post that price here. That is something I will only offer people on the phone.

These are individually packaged in a clear plastic case.

06/19/2024

With everything that's going on it is nice to have something to go my way for once. We just got in 4 new ties and one bow tie this morning.

I would love to hear what you think of them. I modeled them after the Paisley ties I like so much...but I added a chess theme.

The way I look at them is they are dress up ties that do not scream chess.

We will have them up on our website tomorrow and up on www.USCFSALES.com and www.Chess4Less.com by the end of the week or so.

06/13/2024

While we were at the National Open, one of my new products showed up. We ordered Stress relievers in King and Queen shapes. I thought they were the regular size, but they were more of a kid's size (3.75" King). They have great colors. The King comes in Red or Blue and the Queen is in White or Purple.
Regular Stress Relievers are $6/each. I am thinking these will sell $3/each or 2 for $5.

Would love to hear your comments!

06/12/2024

Just got back from the National Open last night. Alan Losoff and Glen Panner ALWAYS put on a killer tournament. This year the tournament was at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino.

Tournament sales were surprisingly good for the condition compared to previous tournaments we did this year. People loved all my new products, especially the Knight plush toys.

Tons of stories came out of this tournament. One of the top GM's got stuck in an elevator for over an hour and when they used the phone to get help they were told they would have to wait for the supervisor because they could not tell which elevator he was in. Later on, he went to go get a drink after his game and there happened to be a bar brawl where the cops got called. He did not do anything but watch...but he had to stay an extra 1.5 hours till they interviewed everyone there. He still almost won the tournament.

A good friend told me that after 6+ years of being in remission his tumors came back and the docs told him his time is very limited on this earth. Despite all of this he still played and got a plus score (4 points)!!! My prayers are with you my friend! They were telling him that since he has gotten so much Chemo that they could not do anything for him anymore. Talk about a badass....going out like a champ doing what he loves. I will miss you my friend!

Have to say I was disappointed with the Flamingo property. The tournament was amazing, but the property itself was a joke. If you wanted to eat the food was ridiculously expensive. Just for 8 boneless wings it was $15. That did not include fries or a drink. To get a basic meal it was $30-40 per person. A large cheese pizza was $53!!! They tried fining the tournament $500/day for people bringing in outside food. How can a tournament organizer stop people from bringing in outside food? Talk about mission impossible!

It was great seeing everyone! I love this tournament and the people I see there.

05/29/2024

Some good news....the first "herd" of Knight Plushies came in. "ChessNut" and "Pawn-E" and their twins are on their way to Vegas for the National Open right now.
Here are some pics of a couple of them before I packed them up!

Would LOVE to know what you think. Personally, I think they are ADORABLE. Finally, something for the kids.

Serious question though. I have the King in design right now...of course since we are ChessGorilla he will be a Gorilla King. I need some thoughts on what animal to do for the Queen. I tried a female gorilla, but it did not work. We also need help deciding on the Bishops, Rooks, and Pawns.

I have been racking my brain on how to make Rooks, Bishops, and Pawns cute so kids would want them. All help is appreciated.

05/24/2024

Even with everything going on in my life I have been working hard to bring new products to the market. I have a couple of new things that will be here by the end of next week, so if you see us at the National Open in Las Vegas next month (June 5-9), we will have them with us.

Here are some of the items:
1) Knight Chess Piece Plush animals. They should show up Monday or Tuesday. We have "Chess-Nut" and "Pawn-E", the Dark and Light knights. The rest of the pieces will be made as these sell. The bottoms were re-done to make them sit more like chess pieces
2) Trophy toppers for the "Knight Lights". The King will say "First Place:, the Knights will say "Section Winner", and the Queen will say "Top Player". These toppers will allow you to award the Knight Lights as trophies to your players.
3) King and Queen Stress Relievers. The cool thing on these is they will be in new colors you have not seen before. Check out the pics.
4) Chess Stickers - What I did was take my new cartoon chess piece shirt designs and make them into stickers.

03/14/2024

Need the help of the chess community. I have been working my ass off trying to figure out a way to give back to the chess community while also making a little money doing it. You guys know me...Ideas are not the hard part...it is getting everything off the ground while still getting everything else done.

I started www.DonateChess.Com this past week to do just this. It only has one product listed (Checkbook magnetic) and for every one sold on the site I will donate one to a program in need. What we are doing is waiting for 20 sold and sending out a 20 pack to a school or program.

We will be listing more products in the future, but are just starting with only one. The Gorilla Cube I listed before will be up there soon.

Any streamers that want to help promote the site I would be able to work out deals with you. I am looking at you Premier Chess, James Canty and Eric Rosen.

My Store

03/14/2024

New product alert: Gorilla Cubes!
We just got in our Chess Themed cubes in custom boxes. Please remember this was just the advance box we were supposed to have for the NYS State Scholastics. It only showed up 7 days late.
Too bad, we would have sold all of them at that tournament. Thanks to Danny, Sophia, Steve, and the CCA crew for letting us be the vendor!
Chess players love Cubes and by combining the 2...I think we have a winner here! These are branded to my Chess Gorilla line! We only got 100 of them in and 75 are going down to the Pennsylvania State Scholastics this weekend.
Would LOVE to know what you think!

10/27/2022

Also, for all of you coaches looking for gift handouts to your students, check out our Temporary Chess Tattoos. You get 4 large tats (King, Queen, and 2 Knights) plus 3 sheets of the small tattoos with 6 tats per sheet of all the chess pieces.