The story

The café wall, on a shirt.

Every chess café used to have a poster on the wall: one big piece, printed cheap and loud, the ink sitting on top of the paper. Chess by miniblank brings that wall to the shirt, the mug and the page.

Staunton, 1849.

Each piece starts as the 1849 Staunton pattern, the shape every tournament still plays with. It is shaded from its own turned profile, then printed one of two ways.

Two prints.

Halftone breaks the light into navy dots on acid yellow, like a gig poster. Riso lays violet grain over coral shadows a little off register, like a print from a small press. Two prints, six pieces, 12 designs.

No names, no logos.

No player names, no event logos, nothing borrowed. Just the pieces, and the lines every player knows. Castle early. Diagonals only.

For the title match, and after.

We opened the shop for the title match, 24 November to 12 December, near Geneva, and for every game after it, in a café, a club or at the kitchen table.

Printed to order.

No stock. Your piece is printed after you order by a production partner and shipped straight to you, and checkout shows the estimated delivery dates for your address. Shipping is free and tracked to 75 countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Singapore, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Chess by miniblank. hello@miniblank.com