Fischer vs Kasparov The 12 Secret Games?

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  • Fischer vs Kasparov The 12 Secret Games?

    Fischer vs Kasparov The 12 Secret Games?

    About ten days ago, I was on eBay and I saw up for auction a chess book entitled “Fischer vs Kasparov The 12 Secret Games?” The starting bid was $24.99 US.

    I wrote to the seller and asked if he shipped to Canada and he said he would if he could get a UPS Tracking Number.
    The “Buy Now” price was $79.00.

    The book was published in 2004. I could find only one reference to it since then, in 2010.

    I also found through google that the author had seven copies left and that, if I wanted one, I should send $34.99 to a wedding photographer website in California and arrange about shipping with the author at another website. That cost me an additional $10.21 and so with the exchange rate etc my final cost was 51.16 CAD
    _______

    Why did I take so much trouble about a book with such a dubious subject? Well, you’ll remember the discussions about My 61 Memorable Games (2007) in this forum. I think the general conclusion was that it was an unauthorized forgery. It was also unobtainable.

    There are collectors who feel that owning a copy of a dubious title is quite legitimate because it is a piece of history – negative or no.

    I have copies of Wenman’s books – he was a plagiarist. I have Nunn’s terrible edition of Fischer’s 60 Memorable Games. I would even buy 61 Memorable Games if I could ever find a copy.

    Details of the book:

    Fischer vs Kasparov The 12 Secret Games? The story of a mysterious gift and an incredible day with GM Eduard Gufeld

    By Mark Anthony copyright 2004 All Rights Reserved

    Size: 8.5” x 11” (21.6 x 28 cm)

    Contents page plus 61 pages

    It is a paperback, that looks very much like one of those books you can have printed up instantly from a pdf file.
    There is no place of publication, no publisher and no ISBN. It is not listed on the amazon or Barnes and Noble sites.
    _______

    Mark Anthony became a friend of GM Eduard Gufeld. Gufeld was a Soviet grandmaster, born in Kiev, who emigrated to the United States after the fall of the Soviet Union. He died of a stroke/heart attack in September of 2002 at the age of 66.

    Sam Sloan wrote a eulogy of him for chessbase:

    Gufeld later became much better known as a writer, journalist and world traveler. He wrote more than 100 chess books. There is debate as to whether he wrote the most chess books of anybody, but he was certainly in the top two or three. He moved to the Republic of Georgia and lived there for more than a decade, where he became the trainer of Woman's World Chess Champion Maya Chiburdanidze. .
    This, however, was the great mystery about Eduard Gufeld. In an era of dour, tight-lipped Soviet Grandmasters, Gufeld was always available for a comment or a quote about any subject. He seemed to be able to travel the world freely. He went to Japan and many other countries where other Soviet chess players almost never went. In an era where it was almost impossible to get out of the Soviet Union and where Soviets who traveled abroad were accompanied by a KGB Agent, Gufeld seemed to be able to come and go anywhere he wanted without escort.
    Yet, Gufeld denied to his dying day that he was a KGB Agent. If he was, his secret died with him.

    Gufeld was such a superstar that after the breakup of the Soviet Union he went to Hollywood, where he continued to write books, travel, teach, lecture and play in chess tournaments. Even though he was no longer a world-class player, he won many tournaments, including the US Senior Championship.


    See http://en.chessbase.com/post/grandma...ufeld-has-died

    _______

    One day, Gufeld dictates twelve chess games to Anthony. Another page is put into an envelope and Anthony sworn not to open it until Gufeld is dead. He also gives him a copy of his book “Improving Chess By Tactics” signed and inscribed on 12/18/01.

    When Anthony later opens the envelope up there is a list of the twelve games with the players listed as G.K. and B.F.

    He is fairly certain that Gufeld passed on the moves of a twelve-game match between Garry Kasparov and Bobby Fischer.

    “So the remaining questions are when, where and how? Kasparov did meet with Gufeld in Los Angeles to film a commercial, and stayed a week. Gufeld spoke with Bobby in Budapest when he travelled there to play in tournaments. When? There’s no way to guess or know for sure. Where? Perhaps in Budapest, perhaps through correspondence, perhaps through contact with Gufeld.”
    …..

    “Perhaps Gufeld fabricated them, but why?”

    He concludes that, after analyzing the games, that they are genuine and says:

    “Ladies and Gentlemen,
    I present to you (in all probability) the 12 Secret Games of Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov.”

    Click image for larger version

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    To be continued in the next post of this thread
    Last edited by Wayne Komer; Thursday, 26th March, 2015, 10:54 PM. Reason: plus sign missing!

  • #2
    Re: Fischer vs Kasparov The 12 Secret Games?

    Fischer vs Kasparov The 12 Secret Games? (concluded)

    I have taken the list that Gufeld gave Anthony and added the opening, number of moves and result. These are:

    Fischer-Kasparov Games in Mark Anthony’s Book

    1. G.K. – B.F. D28 Queen’s Gambit Accepted 43 moves 0.5-0.5
    2. B.F. – G.K. B90 Sicilian Najdorf/Scheveningen 58 moves 0.5-0.5
    3. G.K. – B.F. A04 King’s Indian Attack 20 moves 0.5-0.5
    4. B.F. – E92 G.K. King’s Indian Classical 59 moves 0.5-0.5
    5. G.K. – B90 B.F. Sicilian Najdorf 46 moves 0.5-0.5
    6. B.F. – G.K. B87 Sicilian Najdorf/Scheveningen 34 moves 0.5-0.5
    7. G.K. – B.F. D28 Queen’s Gambit Accepted 49 moves 1-0
    8. B.F. – G.K. C67 Ruy Lopez Berlin Defence 31 moves 0.5-0.5
    9. G.K. – B.F. D96 Gruenfeld Russian System 41 moves 1-0
    10. B.F. – G.K. A07 Reti Opening New York and Capablanca Systems 43 moves 0.5-0.5
    11. G.K. – B.F. E97 King’s Indian Classical Bayonet Attack 64 moves 0-1
    12. B.F. – G.K. B53 Sicilian Defence 45 moves 1-0
    _____________

    I don’t think that Fischer ever played Kasparov. If it was a training match then training for what? Fischer stayed in Budapest after his second match with Spassky from 1992 until the end of the decade.

    I think the games are fabricated but I give the book’s four decisive encounters:

    Fischer-Kasparov Games in Mark Anthony’s Book

    Secret Match
    Game Seven
    Kasparov, Garry-Fischer, Robert J.
    D28 QGA Classical (8..Bb7)

    1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.O-O a6 7.Qe2 b5 8.Bb3 Bb7 9.Rd1 Nbd7 10.Nc3 Qc7 11.e4 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Nc5 13.e5 Nxb3 14.axb3 Nd7 15.Bf4 Be7 16.Rac1 Qb6 17.Ne4 O-O 18.Nd6 Bd5 19.b4 Nxe5 20.Qxe5 f6 21.Qh5 Bxd6 22.Nxe6 Bxe6 23.Rxd6 Qb8 24.Qf3 Bf7 25.Rxf6 Qa7 26.Rd6 Bc4 27.Qg3 Rae8 28.b3 Qf7 29.Be3 Bxb3 30.Rxa6 Rc8 31.Rxc8 Rxc8 32.h3 Bd5 33.Bd4 Bb7 34.Rd6 Be4 35.f3 Bc2 36.Qg4 Bf5 37.Qg5 Qf8 38.Bc5 h6 39.Rxh6 Qd8 40.Qxf5 gxh6 41.Qg6 Kh8 42.Qxh6 Kg8 43.Qg6 Kh8 44.Bd6 Rc1 45.Kh2 Re1 46.Qh5 Kg8 47.Be5 Rxe5 48.Qxe5 Qd3 49.h4 1-0

    Secret Match
    Game Nine
    Kasparov, Garry-Fischer, Robert J.
    D97 Gruenfeld, Russian, Szabo (Boleslavsky) Variation

    1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 c6 8.Be2 b5 9.Qb3 Qa5 10.Bd2 b4 11.Na4 Nxe4 12.Bxb4 Qd8 13.O-O Be6 14.Qc2 Bd5 15.Nc3 a5 16.Ba3 Nxc3 17.bxc3 Nd7 18.Rab1 Re8 19.c4 Be6 20.Rfe1 Bf5 21.Bd3 Bg4 22.Be4 Rc8 23.Ne5 Nxe5 24.dxe5 Bxe5 25.h3 Be6 26.Bxg6 hxg6 27.Rxe5 Bf5 28.Rxf5 gxf5 29.Qxf5 Rb8 30.Qg5 Kh7 31.Qh5 Kg8 32.Rd1 Qb6 33.Qg5 Kf8 34.Qe5 Kg8 35.Qg3 Kf8 36.Qh4 Kg7 37.Bxe7 Rxe7 38.Qxe7 a4 39.Qe5 Kh7 40.Rd4 Qb1 41.Kh2 1-0

    Secret Match
    Game Eleven
    Kasparov, Garry-Fischer, Robert J.
    E97 King’s Indian, Orthodox, Aronin-Taimanov

    1.c4 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 a5 10.Ba3 axb4 11.Bxb4 Nd7 12.a4 Nc5 13.a5 f5 14.Bxc5 dxc5 15.Qb3 Ra6 16.Bd3 h6 17.Rfe1 f4 18.Qb5 Qd6 19.Na4 b6 20.axb6 cxb6 21.Reb1 Rf6 22.Ra2 g5 23.h3 Rg6 24.Rab2 Qd8 25.Nd2 h5 26.Be2 g4 27.hxg4 hxg4 28.Kf1 Rh6 29.Ke1 Rd6 30.Kd1 Ng6 31.Ke1 Nh4 32.Bf1 Bh6 33.Kd1 f3 34.gxf3 Bxd2 35.Rxd2 Nxf3 36.Ra2 Nd4 37.Qb2 Kf7 38.Nc3 Rxa2 39.Qxa2 Qf6 40.Nb5 Nxb5 41.Rxb5 g3 42.Ke1 Qg5 43.f3 Rg6 44.Kd1 g2 45.Qxg2 Qxg2 46.Bxg2 Rxg2 47.Rxb6 Bd7 48.Ke1 Rc2 49.Rh6 Rxc4 50.Rh7 Ke8 51.Rh5 Rd4 52.Rxe5 Kd8 53.d6 c4 54.Rc5 Be6 55.e5 Bd5 56.Kf2 Kd7 57.Kg3 Rd3 58.Kg4 c3 59.Rc7 Kd8 60.f4 Bb3 61.f5 c2 62.f6 Rd1 63.Kf5 c1=Q 64.Rxc1 Rxc1 0-1

    Secret Match
    Game Twelve
    Fischer, Robert J. – Kasparov, Garry
    B53 Sicilian, Chekhover Variation

    1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qe3 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.O-O Nf6 8.Nc3 O-O 9.h3 a6 10.Rd1 Qc7 11.a3 b6 12.Bd3 Bb7 13.b3 Ne5 14.Bb2 Nxf3 15.Qxf3 Nxe4 16.Bxe4 Bxe4 17.Qxe4 Bxc3 18.Bxc3 Qxc3 19.Qxe7 Rfd8 20.Ra2 d5 21.Rd3 Qc5 22.Qxc5 bxc5 23.b4 c4 24.Rd4 f5 25.c3 Kf7 26.Re2 Rd7 27.Re5 Rad8 28.g4 Kf6 29.f4 h5 30.g5 Kf7 31.Kf2 Rd6 32.a4 R8d7 33.b5 axb5 34.axb5 h4 35.Ke3 Re6 36.Rd2 Rxe5 37.fxe5 Ke6 38.Kd4 Rb7 39.Ra2 Rxb5 40.Ra6 Kf7 41.Rf6 Ke7 42.Rxg6 Rb1 43.Kxd5 Rh1 44.Rc6 Rxh3 45.Rc7 1-0
    __________

    The quality of the games and their provenance should be the deciding factors of their authenticity after all.
    The book is still available, although it is hard to say for how much longer!
    Last edited by Wayne Komer; Sunday, 23rd February, 2014, 11:20 AM.

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