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---- Nous avons besoin d'un traduction français!
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There is a program on television called Storage Wars.
When the rent is not paid on a storage locker for three months, the contents can be sold by auction for cash-only. Professional buyers visit storage facilities throughout the States and bid on these lockers. Before each locker is auctioned, the buyers are given five minutes to inspect the contents from the doorway, but may not enter the locker or touch any of the items.
After the day's auctions are completed, the winning bidders sort through the lockers estimating the prices they will set on the content.
Now, suppose you won your bid on a locker with dozens of closed boxes of books but you could not read any of the titles. If they were chess books, what would you do after?
Well, today, on eBay, an auction was announced, with a starting price of $4,500 for 94 boxes containing 3976 mint chess books. 20 of the boxes are full of Chess Life magazines.
The hitch is that there are multiple copies of each book. The two Keres books are quite collectible but I doubt whether 64 copies of The Romantic King's Gambit could ever be sold.
The second problem is that you must pick them all up from the storage unit located in Athens, Alabama!
I give below, the whole listing:
________
I have a storage unit located in Athens Alabama 35611 of Appx. Total 94 Boxes. Vintage mint/new paperback Chess Books Including 20 Boxes of Chess Life magazines. Buyer Pickup, from Storage Unit Only.
The list of new/mint vintage paperback chess books are:
1.The Complete Najdorf, John Nunn- 5 boxes x48 =240
2. The Road To The Top, Paul Keres- 2 boxes x63 =126
3. The Quest for Perfection, Paul Keres-6 boxes x55 =330
4. Chess Tactics for the Advanced Player, Yuri Averbakh-International Grandmaster-20 boxes x36 =720
5. Chess MiddleGame Planning, Peter Romanovsky- American Chess Promotions-2 boxes x62 =124
7. New Classical King's Indian, John Nunn-4 boxes x49 =196
8. The Romantic King's Gambit, Chess. A.E Santasler and Ken Smith,-1box 64 =64
9. Alekhine In Europe and Asia, John Donaldson, Intl.Chess Interprises- 28 boxes x64 =1,792
10. 20 full boxes - Chess Life-From 1990's and maybe 2000, 2001, 2002
Total: 94 boxes
3,976 new/mint vintage chess books
20 full boxes Chess Life
The problem with that is that only about 5 of the books (2 through 5 and 9) are worth anything from the point of view of a chess book collector and even a chess bookseller will be hard pressed to sell all of those copies of any particular title. The whole lot is probably worth about $160 to the typical chess book buyer who would probably be willing to buy at half that price and maybe $1000 to the seller of chessbooks. The market is very small. In Canada, maybe Chess and Math and Larry Bevand would be interested in one tenth of the collection. In the U.S. there are maybe ten booksellers who might be interested in part of it. For anyone else it would be too much of a bother. Maybe Amazon would be interested if they knew about it as that would be the only bookseller who could sell in such quantities.
The problem with that is that only about 5 of the books (2 through 5 and 9) are worth anything from the point of view of a chess book collector and even a chess bookseller will be hard pressed to sell all of those copies of any particular title. The whole lot is probably worth about $160 to the typical chess book buyer who would probably be willing to buy at half that price and maybe $1000 to the seller of chessbooks. The market is very small. In Canada, maybe Chess and Math and Larry Bevand would be interested in one tenth of the collection. In the U.S. there are maybe ten booksellers who might be interested in part of it. For anyone else it would be too much of a bother. Maybe Amazon would be interested if they knew about it as that would be the only bookseller who could sell in such quantities.
This sounds like stock from American Chess Promotions. I know the owner. He is a nice guy, but I heard he had health issues which may explain why he let the storage fees laps.
Well, today, on eBay, an auction was announced, with a starting price of $4,500 for 94 boxes containing 3976 mint chess books. 20 of the boxes are full of Chess Life magazines.
Actually, this is NOT an auction with a starting price of $4,500. Anybody willing to pay $4,500 gets the lot.
At about $1.00 per book. this offer seems good, but who needs up to 1792 copies of the same title?
"An outstanding collection of items relating to Fischer's epic victory over Boris Spassky (b.1937) at the World Championships in 1972, including an original watercolor by Halldor Petursson of Fischer and Spassky, as follows:
1. My 60 Memorable Games. New York: Simon and Schuster, (1969). 8vo. Some wear to jacket.
FIRST EDITION, INSCRIBED TO HIS COACH BILL [LOMBARDY] ON THE OCCASION OF HIS FIRST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, "thanks a lot for your help and patience." Annotated and signed by Lombardy, "Sept 1st, 1972/ First autograph of Bobby Fischer as World Champion." Bill Lombardy was Fischer's coach from the age of 11 1/2 through the World Championships of 1972, ending on September 1st when Fischer famously defeated Boris Spassky, an event, Garry Kasparov noted, "treated on both sides of the Atlantic as a crushing moment in the... cold war."
2. Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess. New York: Basic Systems, (1966). Illustrated boards, without d.j. as issued. Cracking to joints, some soiling.
FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY FISCHER, BILL LOMBARDY'S COPY, with his signature to paste-down.
3. Signed traveller's check ("Bobby Fischer"), accomplished in Fischer's hand to Bill Lombardy, and endorsed by Lombardy to the verso.
4. Five Icelandic postal covers, each signed by both Fischer and Lombardy, dated 2.VII.1972 to 1.IX.1972 and numbered, with various representations of Fischer-Spassky, and including one dated the day of Fischer's momentous victory.
5. Original watercolor by Halldor Petursson, depicting Fischer and Spassky, along with Lombardy, lettered in English, pen and ink with watercolor, 367 x 478 mm, inscribed by the artist to "Grandmaster William Lombardy", Reykjavik, July 1972, lower right, small tear to left hand margin, not affecting image.
BEAUTIFUL WATERCOLOR DEPICTING A VICTORIOUS FISCHER emerging from a doorway marked "Ping Pong" and being tended to by Lombardy, while a beaten and worn Spassky stumbles away, cradling his crown. Petursson created some of the most iconic images of the World Championships with a series of 18 cartoons published as post cards. He annotates "(Rev) William Lombardy" beneath his image, and inscribes the painting in the month of their first matches at the world Championships. As Spassky won the first match, and was awarded the second on a forfeit, one can only imagine that this was accomplished only after Fischer beat Spassky for the first time in his life in game 3, before going undefeated in the next six matches throughout late July."
There are good photos of the items on the Bonhams site.
The lot sold for Sold for US$ 1,875 (CA$ 2,396) inc. premium, which I consider a bargain.
Michael adds this note: "Lombardy's inscribed copy of My 60 Memorable Games was sold, along with some other items, at Bonhams, New York last December for $1,875. I understand that this copy of Fischer's book is now being advertised for sale for $50,000!"
__________
On the Bonham's site there is an old auction, from June 10, 2009
"Library of books and documents derived from the Pasadena storage unit where Fischer's belongings were held after 1992. Fischer had defied the U.N. embargo against travel to Yugoslavia for his re-match against Boris Spassky and never again returned to the U.S."
Collection of 350 tournament, match and congress books
Very extensive collection with rare and precious specimens.
The collection contains many original first editions, rare and expensive copies, copies signed by the writer, printed signatures of grandmasters, signatures of famous chess book collectors such as Nielsen but also more recent collectors.
The books differ, some are hardcover, some softcover and some entirely of paper. All copies are complete and thus all images, photos and portraits are present. (491 pictures)
All covers are photographed, some of the books also the first page and an extra photo. Please view the photos carefully to form your opinion.
Seventy titles taken at random:
No Venue Year
1 Wiener Internationale1873
2 St. Petersburg 1895
3 Lasker vs Marshal1907
4 Lasker vs Tarrasch 1908
5 Karlsbad1911
6 Stockholm 1912
7 Temesvar1912
8 Rice Memorial New York 1916
9 Kaschau 1918
10 Goteborg1919
11 Alechin-Teichmann1921
12 Bad Piestany1922
13 Teplitz Schonau 1922
14 Hastings1922
15 Scheveningen1923
16 Paris 1925
17 Baden Baden 1925
18 Semmering 1926
19 Hannover1926
20 Semmering 1926
21 Kecskemet 1927
22 Berlin 1928
23 Wien1928
24 Bad Kissingen 1928
25 Karlsbad1929
26 San Remo1930
27 Bern 1932
28 Warsaw Olympiad 1935
29 Amsterdam 1936
30 Nottingham 1936
31 Stockholm 1937
32 Prag1937
33 Euwe-Aljechin 1937
34 Bad Oeynhausen 1938
35 Noordwijk 1938
36 Munich 1941
37 Salzburg1942
38 Prag1942
39 Prag1943
40 Salzburg1943
41 World Chess Championship 1943
42 Hastings1946
43 Moscow v Prague 1946
44 Zaanstreek 1946
45 Mar del Plata 1947
46 Sextangular Tournament Buenos Aires 1947
47 New York1948
48 Den Haag-Moskou 1948
49 Dutch Championship 1950
50 Staunton Centenary 1951
51 Reggio Emilia 1951
52 Helsinki Olympiad1952
53 Goteborg 1955
54 Dr. Dyckhoff Fernschach-Gedenkturnier 1956
55 Wageningen Zonal Turnier 1957
56 Lessing J. Rosenwald New York1963
57 Sousse, Tunisia 1967
58 Maribor 1967
59 Kizlovodsk 1968
60 Soviet Union vs Rest of the World 1970
61 Netanya 1971
62 USSR Championship Moscow 1973
63 Sochi 1973
64 Nice Olympiad 1974
65 Tallinn 1977
66 Tilburg 1978
67 Niksic 1978
68 Buenos Aires Olympiad1978
69 Montreal1979
70 Riga Interzonal 1979
The total weight is 75 kg. and the entire lot will be sent by registered mail in 4 or 5 shipping boxes. Therefore check the shipping costs for your country.
SHIPMENT COSTS
All the items will be packed save and send with registered mail.
75 KG
Netherlands € 120,00 / € 200,00
Europe . € 200,00 / € 300,00
World . € 475,00 / € 600,00
PAYMENT DETAILS
Current Bid:€5 959,00
__________
Currently, the initial bid is about 9175 CAD.
The seller at the Lund Auction site is listed as Gielcasper. At least one dedication in the photos is to G.J. Cieraad, a chess book collector from Gouda. He may have started the collection.
_________
Please note that I am reporting on various chess auctions and not auctioning books off myself (Heaven forbid!!)
Last edited by Wayne Komer; Thursday, 21st June, 2018, 03:01 PM.
12 grandmasters signed the book "Interzonal tournaments "Riga 79". "Rio de Janeiro 79" (publisher Moscow. Physical education and sport. 1980. The author Chepizhny V., Circulation of 100 000, 415 page, with illustrations. Russian language. Format 220x140 mm, Weight 540 g)
These 12 original autographs I received personally from February 23 to February 28, 1981 in Moscow, in the weightlifting Palace of the Army Central Sports Club (Moscow, Leningradsky prospect, 39). On this day, the first round of the 2nd match tournament of the USSR national teams was held.
Signature on the front flyleaf of the book:
1. Karpov A. (23.05.1951), ex-world champion
2. Kasparov G. (13.04.1963), ex-world champion
3. M. Chiburdanidze (17.01.1961), ex-world champion
4. Petrosyan T. (17.06.1929 – 13.08.2004), ex-world champion
5. Smyslov V. (24.03.1921 – 27.03.2010), ex-world champion
6. Taimanov M. (07.02.1926 – 28.11.2016)
7. Geller E. (08.03.1925 – 17.11.1998)
8. Bronstein D. (19.02.1924 – 05.12.2006)
9. Belyavsky A. (17.12.1953)
10. Polugaevsky L. (20.11.1934 – 30.08.2005)
11. B. Spassky (30.01.1937), ex-world champion
12. Tal M. (09.11.1936 – 28.06.1992), ex-world champion.
Signatures A. Karpov, G. Kasparov and M. Chiburdanidze I have outlined their names next to the signatures.
Signature of T. Petrosian, Smyslov V., M. Taimanov, Geller, E., Bronstein, D., Belyavsky A., Polugaevsky L., B. Spassky, M. Тal, I numbered their names are listed on the Verso of the title page of the book.
Information about holding from 22 to 28 February 1981, the 2nd Match-tournament of the USSR national teams in chess is available in the book " Chess. Encyclopedic dictionary", page 241 (editor-in-chief A. E. Karpov, Soviet encyclopedia edition. Moscow. One thousand nine hundred ninety):
"2nd match tournament, 22-28.2.1981. Dedicated to the 26th Congress of the CPSU. Participants-1st, 2nd youth teams of the USSR and the senior team. Participants: world Champions among men and women, 3 ex-world Champions, 28 international grandmasters, 2 international masters and 1 master of sports of the USSR. The game was played on 8 boards in 2 circles.
_________
OVERALL RESULTS.… : Individual results: Karpov-3.5 points out of 6......"
I drop it and it stop working the name is CHESS CHAMPION 2150 and it has sisty four level it has 72K MEMORY AUTO PLAY it from RADIO SHACK it can be fix
12 grandmasters signed the book "Interzonal tournaments "Riga 79". "Rio de Janeiro 79" (publisher Moscow. Physical education and sport. 1980. The author Chepizhny V., Circulation of 100 000, 415 page, with illustrations. Russian language. Format 220x140 mm, Weight 540 g)
These 12 original autographs I received personally from February 23 to February 28, 1981 in Moscow, in the weightlifting Palace of the Army Central Sports Club (Moscow, Leningradsky prospect, 39). On this day, the first round of the 2nd match tournament of the USSR national teams was held.
Signature on the front flyleaf of the book:
1. Karpov A. (23.05.1951), ex-world champion
2. Kasparov G. (13.04.1963), ex-world champion
3. M. Chiburdanidze (17.01.1961), ex-world champion
4. Petrosyan T. (17.06.1929 – 13.08.2004), ex-world champion
5. Smyslov V. (24.03.1921 – 27.03.2010), ex-world champion
6. Taimanov M. (07.02.1926 – 28.11.2016)
7. Geller E. (08.03.1925 – 17.11.1998)
8. Bronstein D. (19.02.1924 – 05.12.2006)
9. Belyavsky A. (17.12.1953)
10. Polugaevsky L. (20.11.1934 – 30.08.2005)
11. B. Spassky (30.01.1937), ex-world champion
12. Tal M. (09.11.1936 – 28.06.1992), ex-world champion.
Signatures A. Karpov, G. Kasparov and M. Chiburdanidze I have outlined their names next to the signatures.
Signature of T. Petrosian, Smyslov V., M. Taimanov, Geller, E., Bronstein, D., Belyavsky A., Polugaevsky L., B. Spassky, M. Тal, I numbered their names are listed on the Verso of the title page of the book.
Information about holding from 22 to 28 February 1981, the 2nd Match-tournament of the USSR national teams in chess is available in the book " Chess. Encyclopedic dictionary", page 241 (editor-in-chief A. E. Karpov, Soviet encyclopedia edition. Moscow. One thousand nine hundred ninety):
"2nd match tournament, 22-28.2.1981. Dedicated to the 26th Congress of the CPSU. Participants-1st, 2nd youth teams of the USSR and the senior team. Participants: world Champions among men and women, 3 ex-world Champions, 28 international grandmasters, 2 international masters and 1 master of sports of the USSR. The game was played on 8 boards in 2 circles.
_________
OVERALL RESULTS.… : Individual results: Karpov-3.5 points out of 6......"
(see 3 photos of the book fragment).
Is there any way to find out how much this book went for (bid $2000) without going to e-bay?
The first Canadian Open Chess Championship, 1956. One plate with a portrait. 92 selected games from the tournament without annotations. No diagrams. Descriptive notation. Round-by-round reports. Final standings. Players index. Round-by-round individual results. Evans won in front of Lombardy. 2 leaves with ads, 105 pages. 28 cm. Typescript printed recto an verso. Pamphlet, stapled. Montreal, Canadian Open Chess Championship Committee, 1957. Betts 25 - 250.
I can remember reading stories of labor camps during WWII, where the prisoners fashioned chess pieces out of bread and played with them.
There are photos online of sets that were used in concentration camps.
Never have I thought of a commercial set these days with pieces made out of bread, but I saw one such up for auction today:
Russian Bread Chess Pieces. Set №4: «Jailhouse. Guards vs Prisoners»
Material: Bread
King height: approx. 120 mm
Pawn height: approx. 62 mm
Chess piece base diameter: approx. 32 mm
Total number of chess pieces: 32 pieces
Chess board: not included
Country of Manufacture: Russian Federation
_________
There are recognizable figures that appear to be of moulded dough, coloured and glazed. If you didn’t know they were made of bread, you would swear that they are made of painted and glazed china!
And the cost is astronomical 95000 Euro. This is 147,100 CAD presently.
Mikhail Tal's Large Amber Chess Set
Dear chess friends and collectors, we bring to your consideration a rarity of great historic and antique value. It's Mikhail Tal's Amber Chess Set.
The Chess Set was made of natural lump amber and was given to the new world champion Mikhail Tal on May 16, 1960
(after the famous match Botvinnik - Tal, which ended on May 7) at a reception by the first secretary of the Communist Party of Latvia Arvid Pel'she.
The uniqueness of this game of the Chess Set is not only that they were made of natural lump amber (most of amber chess sets are made of fused amber), but also because it's a gift of the Latvian government to the brilliant chess player in his days of triumph.
This Amber Chess Set was cataloged in famous Isaak Linder's book The Art of Chess Pieces.
The Chess Set is from M. Tal's family and right now is located in Europe. Clicking the following link you can find photographs of Tal's Chess Set:
Lot 124
Chess.- Lopez de Sigura (Ruy) Il giuoco de gli scacchi, first Italian edition, Venice, Cornelio Arrivabene, 1584.
£2,000 - 3,000
Chess.- Lopez de Sigura (Ruy) Il giuoco de gli scacchi, translated from the Spanish by Giovanne Domenico Tarsia, collation: *4 A-Z4 Aa-Dd4, first edition in Italian, title with woodcut printer's device, woodcut illustrations of a board and pieces, woodcut historiated and decorative initials, light water-staining at foot, occasional spotting, lightly browned, contemporary limp vellum, lacking ties, soiled, [LN372; Adams L1475; EDIT 16 CNCE 29870], small 4to, Venice, Cornelio Arrivabene, 1584.
⁂ The scarce first Italian edition of this classic of the chess canon, with a distinguished provenance. Lopez gave his name to the most popular of all chess openings. His book was the first chess book to follow Damiano's small treatise of 1512. The first part deals with the origin and utility of chess, the second part provides a miscellaneous collection of openings and the third and fourth parts are a severe critique of Damiano, with corrections of his moves, and new openings included.
Provenance: Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa, 1818-1899, chess master, historian and theoretician (armorial bookplate with initials and 'N:t 3006 / (344) and dated 1884and his ms. notes to inside front cover and p.133); Albrecht Buschke (acquired in Munich in 1935. It is identified on p.100 of his typescript 1938 catalogue); sold by Buschke to Karl A. Baer (an invoice dated 11/16/54 is loosely inserted in the volume).
___________
Lot 145
Alekhine v. Capablanca.- Alekhine (Alexander) Autograph Letter signed to Brian Harley, October 1928, giving copies of correspondence proving his willingness to give Capablanca a rematch for the World Title.
£750 - 1,000
Alekhine v. Capablanca.- Alekhine (Alexander, Russian and French chess player and the fourth World Chess Champion, 1892-1946) Autograph Letter signed to Brian Harley, 1½pp., 4to, Paris, 15th October 1928, giving copies of correspondence proving his willingness to give Capablanca a rematch for the World Title, "I suppose these three copies will be the best answer to what interests you and will show my sincere desire to defend my title against anybody who will seriously try to attack it "; and 5 typed copies of the correspondence, folds, browned (6).
⁂ José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (1888-1942), Cuban chess player was World Chess Champion from 1921 to 1927. He was beaten by Alexander Alekhine in 1927 and this correspondence shows the attempts by both men to arrange a new match, which never came to pass and was the subject of much bitterness by Capablanca.
Brian Harley (1883-1955 ), British chess composer, and chess columnist for The Observer.
+++++++++++
Lot 125
Chess.- Greco (Gioachino) Primo modo del gioco de Partito che giocandosi spesso occorrono li veri giochi & anco questi giochi de Partito sono tratti necessarij, perche al fin del giocho spesso occorrono essendo in essi molti tratti bellissimi & occulti, manuscript, France, [?Paris], 1624 or 1625.
£20,000 - 30,000
Chess.- Greco (Gioachino) Primo modo del gioco de Partito che giocandosi spesso occorrono li veri giochi & anco questi giochi de Partito sono tratti necessarij, perche al fin del giocho spesso occorrono essendo in essi molti tratti bellissimi & occulti, col'istesso ordine delle Pedine. Composto per Gioachino Greco Calabrese, 62 ff., unfoliated, title within an oval floral and foliate border, a putto at the top (smudged in places); border framing the opening of text on fol. 2r., a few annotations in French to the final blank leaves, not relating to the text, with the names 'Robert' and 'Louis' inked on the verso of the first leaves and at the end, along with some pen trials, contemporary French, possibly Parisian binding, gilt-tooled brown morocco over pasteboards, covers within two elaborate frames; cornerpieces, large fleuron, flat spine, richly tooled, head of spine repaired in a lighter coloured brown modern calf, rubbed, 126 x 84mm., binding 129 x 91mm., France, [?Paris], 1624 or 1625.
⁂ A collection of partiti, or 'chess problems' by one of the most important figures in the history of chess, Gioachino Greco (1590/1600 - ca. 1630) called 'The Calabrian', from his hometown Celico, near Cosenza.
Greco is considered the first professional chess player. He wrote in 1619/1620 his Trattato del nobilissimo gioco de scacchi, which circulated widely in manuscript, and was highly appreciated in the whole of Europe. He travelled extensively through France, England, and Spain. The highly commercial Greco often compiled small-format manuscripts for presentation to wealthy patrons, generally written, as here, in Italian by copyists and variously decorated by local artists. Each volume was produced according to a patron's individual preferences, a feature which increases significantly the interest and value of Greco's manuscripts in their individuality. Moreover, although the vogue to buy such pocket handbooks was widespread, only a small number of them have survived, owing to their extensive use.
The present manuscript was produced in France, and in all likelihood in Paris, the city to which Greco had returned in 1624, after his successful stay in London. The manuscript is undated, but its handsome gilt-tooled binding, recalling Le Gascon's style, and the floral border framing the title confidently indicate the years 1624-1625 as date of its production. It is one of Greco's earliest manuscripts recorded by Sanvito in his reference work I codici scacchistici di Giulio Cesare Polerio and Gioacchino Greco. Similar manuscripts are found in institutional libraries, including the British Library, the Bodleian and the Bibliothèque Nationale. The one preserved in the National Library in Lisbon (MS H.I.3) bears the same title as ours, Primo modo del gioco de Partito.
J. G. White, Greco and his Manuscripts. Giachino Greco 1600-1634. 300th Anniversary of the Writing of the First Manuscript 1619-1919, Philadelphia 1919; D. Hooper - K. Whyld, The Oxford Companion to Chess, Oxford 1996, pp. 133, 158-159; A. Sanvito I codici scacchistici di Giulio Cesare Polerio e Gioacchino Greco, Brescia 2005.
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Lot 129
Chess.- Hyde (Thomas) De ludis orientalibus libri duo, quorum prior est duabus partibus, viz. 1, Historia Shahiludii Latinè; deinde 2, Historia Shahiludii Heb. Lat. per tres Judæos. Liber posterior continet Historiam Reliquorum Ludorum Orientis, Oxford, Sheldonian Theatre, 1694.
£1,000 - 1,500
Chess.- Hyde (Thomas)De ludis orientalibus libri duo, quorum prior est duabus partibus, viz. 1, Historia Shahiludii Latinè; deinde 2, Historia Shahiludii Heb. Lat. per tres Judæos. Liber posterior continet Historiam Reliquorum Ludorum Orientis, 3 parts in 1 (parts misbound, but work complete), 3 folding engraved plates (one of Chinese text, 2 of chessboards), engraved and woodcut illustrations (including chess pieces), with final blank, a few repairs to Chinese plate, with minor loss to are near lower left corner, some staining and spotting, lightly browned, contemporary vellum, [LN173; Wing H3877, H3875; Cordier, Sinica 3142], 8vo, Oxford, Sheldonian Theatre, 1694.
⁂ One of the first scholarly works devoted to Chess, and other Oriental games including backgammon, draughts and dice. Includes texts in Arabic, Chinese and Hebrew. Hyde was an Orientalist and later became Bodleian Librarian.
Provenance: F. Pedrosy (ink inscription to front pastedown); Samuel Barrett (engraved armorial bookplate);
__________
Lots of interesting stuff for the chess historian or collector. You can actually go to Lot 145 and see the first page of the letter signed by Alekhine, expand the image and read his words. How cool is that?!
My 60 Memorable Games (William Lombardy's Copy and the First Copy Bobby Fischer Signed as World Champion) SIGNED
Author: Bobby Fischer
Title: My 60 Memorable Games (William Lombardy's Copy and the First Copy Bobby Fischer Signed as World Champion)
Publication: New York: Simon and Schuster, 1969.
Description: Hardcover. ****AN EXTRAORDINARY PIECE OF CHESS HISTORY**** AND ONE OF THE TOWERING ASSOCIATION COPIES IN THE GAME'S VAST LITERATURE. WARMLY inscribed (in itself very unusual) by the newly-minted World Champion to William Lombardy, Bobby Fischer's "second" at Reykjavik and the man widely credited with convincing an overwrought Fischer to move forward and play the match. As with most of Fischer's relationships, his friendship with Lombardy was complicated and experienced many highs and lows. But the fact remains that Lombardy played a major role as coach and mentor in Fischer's development as a world-class player and provided much-needed stability during Bobby's early years.
Fully aware of Fischer's tight-fisted ways, Lombardy was understandably looking for compensation for the time and toil he had invested in the Fischer-Spassky match and he set his sights on this historic copy of "My 60 Memorable Games". By making sure that he could secure Bobby's very first signature as World Champion --and in an expressive, personalized inscription no less-- he understood that he would own a piece of chess immortality, a physical talisman for the ages.
To further mark the significance of the signing, Lombardy verified in his own hand that this indeed was Fischer's first signature as World Champion and he even had Saemi Palsson (Fischer's bodyguard and the Chief of the Reykjavik Police Department) sign this copy as well as a witness to history.
On top of the remarkable history attached to it, this copy is also a very solid example of the 1969 stated 1st printing. Clean and Near Fine in a crisp, price-intact ($6.95), VG+ dustjacket, with just a bit of light chipping along the panel edges. Thick octavo, "with introductions to the games by International Grandmaster Larry Evans".
ONE OF THE GREAT FISCHER PIECES EVER TO REACH THE MARKET AND ONE OF THE TRUE RARITIES TO EMERGE --ALMOST 50 YEARS LATER-- FROM THE EPIC 1972 STRUGGLE IN REYKJAVIK. Near Fine / Very Good +.
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