Reprinted courtesy of Chesstours @ all rights reserved.
WAS IT A HOAX?
"No other chess figure has had, has, or will have more autograph imitations than Bobby Fischer GUARANTEED!" Fisching For Forgeries by Lawrence Totaro
Bobby Fischer has kept a low profile since becoming an Icelandic citizen, but he still make news. Another kerkuffle took place at an auction on eBay Canada for a revised edition of his My 60 Memorable Games called My 61 Memorable Games. A foreword was purportedly written by Fischer himself, who is said to be in poor health and low on funds.
"I know many readers seek answers to probing questions regarding the Bobby Fischer of 1972. That person no longer exists. I've wanted to release an official version of my book updated in algebraic notation with a few minor corrections. And why now? The United Bank of Switzerland has taken almost all of the money from my 1992 rematch with Borris Spassky -- over $3,000,000. My ongoing battle with them is getting nowhere despite International Law clearly being on my side. So I bring to you my previous 60 games plus one from the event that has caused me so much trouble, in the hopes that sales of this book will reverse that situation."
Suspicious fans promptly noted that UBS stands for the Union (not United) Bank of Switzerland and that it's Boris (not Borris) Spassky. And why was it signed Robert J. Fischer instead of Bobby Fischer?
The seller stated: "The cover price of this book is $24.95 but as a collector's item of limited production run, they can obviously sell for much more. You are bidding on THE FIRST 50 COPIES OF THIS BOOK! The first 100 copies are marked as SPECIAL EDITION, FIRST PRINT RUN. Another auction will be for books 51-100. All books from 101 onward will say SECOND EDITION."
The bid reached $3050 when eBay pulled the item: "We recently suspended this seller's trading privileges. Due to privacy concerns we cannot share further details."
I worked on this book with Fischer and inspected the sample page provided by the seller. Some wording was changed and the analysis was indeed improved, possibly with the aid of a computer.
Icelandic papers reported that Fischer angrily denied writing it. Yet in our extensive e-mails the seller insisted it was no hoax.
"So what should I do with all these books then?" she asked. "Why not send them -- if they exist -- to Fischer in Iceland?" I replied.
Her last message: "I decided to take them to a nearby mall parking lot when the weather gets nice and attach a sign: FREE CHESS BOOKS, TAKE ONE, TAKE ALL."
< I worked on this book with Fischer and inspected the sample page provided by the seller. Some wording was changed and the analysis was indeed improved, possibly with the aid of a computer. Icelandic papers reported that Fischer angrily denied writing it. Yet in our extensive e-mails the seller insisted it was no hoax.
"So what should I do with all these books then?" she asked. "Why not send them -- if they exist -- to Fischer in Iceland?" I replied.
Her last message: "I decided to take them to a nearby mall parking lot when the weather gets nice and attach a sign: FREE CHESS BOOKS, TAKE ONE, TAKE ALL."> -- Evans On Chess newspaper column
From Mig's Daily Dirt Blog
Posted by: obsurvur at December 20, 2007 13:57
To CynicalGripe, Well if you're going to get some of these books....like the tune McCartney wrote for Badfinger, "you'd better hurry cause there going fast"...the seller just wrote me back today, and said 30 of the first 100 First Edition books, were sold off. The rest of the 65, will be sold today. So either the buyer is going to sit on these, or we're gonna see another auction...stay tuned....
Posted by: Bruce Towell at December 21, 2007 16:18
After a few days of email chats I finally talked her into a meeting. Real nice, cute Asian girl of some kind. Soft spoken and very polite. Hardly what I would call a scammer. She showed me the packing slip sent C.O.D. from "Kobenhavn" which is Copenhagen, Denmark. She said she was asked to host the eBay auction only 2 weeks ago.
Anyway, the books are professionally done. I've got over 300 other chess books myself and I have to say the diagrams in this book are the most amazing I have ever seen. They are crisp and clear and larger than the little diagrams in other books. The figurine notation is unique also. The white pieces have white figurines and the black pieces have black figurines. I've never seen that anywhere either. You can almost play the games blindfold when you read such notation. Could this be another Fischer innovation, simple, and yet a vast improvement we have all overlooked for so long?
Anyway, I'm sitting tight just in case the whole thing is a mess of some sort. I was more interested in rescuing the books from the trash heap than anything else.
Posted by: Arthur Killington at December 22, 2007 00:15
To Arthur, Thanks for posting your experience, yea tha gal is probably related to the mother of Bobby's child. It's a shame he got her involved, instead of a professional. I got en email from someone who claims they bought some of the books from her. She told me after today's, or really yesterday's sale, the rest are going in the trash, and her neighbor is going to help her. Such a waste.Her darn husband put his metal drill thru 5 of the books!!.....Poor Bobby,just never seems to do anything the right way.....
Posted by: Bruce Towell at December 22, 2007 04:42
I seem to recall that Fischer doesn't own the publishing rights to his own book (were they sold by Simon & Schuster to Faber & Faber in England)? He angrily denies writing it, but these new notes clearly were added by a strong player. If it turns out the book can be traced to the Philippines, then one might speculate that his longtime aide GM Eugenio Torre was somehow involved.
Wouldn't it be a hoot if this pirated edition became more valuable than the original?
parrthe...@cs.com wrote: > EVANS ON CHESS NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
> Reprinted courtesy of Chesstours @ all rights reserved.
> WAS IT A HOAX?
> "No other chess figure has had, has, or will have more autograph > imitations than Bobby Fischer GUARANTEED!" Fisching For Forgeries by > Lawrence Totaro
> Bobby Fischer has kept a low profile since becoming an Icelandic > citizen, but he still make news. Another kerkuffle took place at an > auction on eBay Canada for a revised edition of his My 60 Memorable > Games called My 61 Memorable Games. A foreword was purportedly written > by Fischer himself, who is said to be in poor health and low on funds.
> "I know many readers seek answers to probing questions regarding > the Bobby Fischer of 1972. That person no longer exists. I've wanted > to release an official version of my book updated in algebraic > notation with a few minor corrections. And why now? The United Bank of > Switzerland has taken almost all of the money from my 1992 rematch > with Borris Spassky -- over $3,000,000. My ongoing battle with them is > getting nowhere despite International Law clearly being on my side. So > I bring to you my previous 60 games plus one from the event that has > caused me so much trouble, in the hopes that sales of this book will > reverse that situation."
> Suspicious fans promptly noted that UBS stands for the Union (not > United) Bank of Switzerland and that it's Boris (not Borris) Spassky. > And why was it signed Robert J. Fischer instead of Bobby Fischer?
> The seller stated: "The cover price of this book is $24.95 but as a > collector's item of limited production run, they can obviously sell > for much more. You are bidding on THE FIRST 50 COPIES OF THIS BOOK! > The first 100 copies are marked as SPECIAL EDITION, FIRST PRINT RUN. > Another auction will be for books 51-100. All books from 101 onward > will say SECOND EDITION."
> The bid reached $3050 when eBay pulled the item: "We recently > suspended this seller's trading privileges. Due to privacy concerns we > cannot share further details."
> I worked on this book with Fischer and inspected the sample page > provided by the seller. Some wording was changed and the analysis was > indeed improved, possibly with the aid of a computer.
> Icelandic papers reported that Fischer angrily denied writing it. > Yet in our extensive e-mails the seller insisted it was no hoax.
> "So what should I do with all these books then?" she asked. "Why not > send them -- if they exist -- to Fischer in Iceland?" I replied.
> Her last message: "I decided to take them to a nearby mall parking > lot when the weather gets nice and attach a sign: FREE CHESS BOOKS, > TAKE ONE, TAKE ALL."
"You were much more than Jedediah, my friend." -- Bobby's last words to GM Larry Evans, who explores this cryptic sentence and unravels the mystery of Fischer's role in updating My 60 Memorable Games, one of the greatest books in chess literature.
parrthe...@cs.com wrote: > EVANS ON CHESS NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
> Reprinted courtesy of Chesstours @ all rights reserved.
> WAS IT A HOAX?
> "No other chess figure has had, has, or will have more autograph > imitations than Bobby Fischer GUARANTEED!" Fisching For Forgeries by > Lawrence Totaro
> Bobby Fischer has kept a low profile since becoming an Icelandic > citizen, but he still make news. Another kerkuffle took place at an > auction on eBay Canada for a revised edition of his My 60 Memorable > Games called My 61 Memorable Games. A foreword was purportedly written > by Fischer himself, who is said to be in poor health and low on funds.
> "I know many readers seek answers to probing questions regarding > the Bobby Fischer of 1972. That person no longer exists. I've wanted > to release an official version of my book updated in algebraic > notation with a few minor corrections. And why now? The United Bank of > Switzerland has taken almost all of the money from my 1992 rematch > with Borris Spassky -- over $3,000,000. My ongoing battle with them is > getting nowhere despite International Law clearly being on my side. So > I bring to you my previous 60 games plus one from the event that has > caused me so much trouble, in the hopes that sales of this book will > reverse that situation."
> Suspicious fans promptly noted that UBS stands for the Union (not > United) Bank of Switzerland and that it's Boris (not Borris) Spassky. > And why was it signed Robert J. Fischer instead of Bobby Fischer?
> The seller stated: "The cover price of this book is $24.95 but as a > collector's item of limited production run, they can obviously sell > for much more. You are bidding on THE FIRST 50 COPIES OF THIS BOOK! > The first 100 copies are marked as SPECIAL EDITION, FIRST PRINT RUN. > Another auction will be for books 51-100. All books from 101 onward > will say SECOND EDITION."
> The bid reached $3050 when eBay pulled the item: "We recently > suspended this seller's trading privileges. Due to privacy concerns we > cannot share further details."
> I worked on this book with Fischer and inspected the sample page > provided by the seller. Some wording was changed and the analysis was > indeed improved, possibly with the aid of a computer.
> Icelandic papers reported that Fischer angrily denied writing it. > Yet in our extensive e-mails the seller insisted it was no hoax.
> "So what should I do with all these books then?" she asked. "Why not > send them -- if they exist -- to Fischer in Iceland?" I replied.
> Her last message: "I decided to take them to a nearby mall parking > lot when the weather gets nice and attach a sign: FREE CHESS BOOKS, > TAKE ONE, TAKE ALL."
<Are all 6I games wins or does he throw one or two his loses in the book.> W-7
Larry Evans talked Bobby Fischer into analyzing three of his memorable losses in My 60 Memorable Games when they were collaborating. Larry told me that Bobby gladly adopted the suggestion.
All these 60 games are in the updated book. The only additional game is the first one in his 1992 rematch with Boris Spassky.
"This mystery by Larry Evans will be in our March issue. It's quite a story! Even in death Bobby Fischer continues to generate controversy." -- Jimmy Adams, editor
> "You were much more than Jedediah, my friend." -- Bobby's last words > to GM Larry Evans, who explores this cryptic sentence and unravels the > mystery of Fischer's role in updating My 60 Memorable Games, one of > the greatest books in chess literature.
> parrthe...@cs.com wrote: > > EVANS ON CHESS NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
> > Reprinted courtesy of Chesstours @ all rights reserved.
> > WAS IT A HOAX?
> > "No other chess figure has had, has, or will have more autograph > > imitations than Bobby Fischer GUARANTEED!" Fisching For Forgeries by > > Lawrence Totaro
> > Bobby Fischer has kept a low profile since becoming an Icelandic > > citizen, but he still make news. Another kerkuffle took place at an > > auction on eBay Canada for a revised edition of his My 60 Memorable > > Games called My 61 Memorable Games. A foreword was purportedly written > > by Fischer himself, who is said to be in poor health and low on funds.
> > "I know many readers seek answers to probing questions regarding > > the Bobby Fischer of 1972. That person no longer exists. I've wanted > > to release an official version of my book updated in algebraic > > notation with a few minor corrections. And why now? The United Bank of > > Switzerland has taken almost all of the money from my 1992 rematch > > with Borris Spassky -- over $3,000,000. My ongoing battle with them is > > getting nowhere despite International Law clearly being on my side. So > > I bring to you my previous 60 games plus one from the event that has > > caused me so much trouble, in the hopes that sales of this book will > > reverse that situation."
> > Suspicious fans promptly noted that UBS stands for the Union (not > > United) Bank of Switzerland and that it's Boris (not Borris) Spassky. > > And why was it signed Robert J. Fischer instead of Bobby Fischer?
> > The seller stated: "The cover price of this book is $24.95 but as a > > collector's item of limited production run, they can obviously sell > > for much more. You are bidding on THE FIRST 50 COPIES OF THIS BOOK! > > The first 100 copies are marked as SPECIAL EDITION, FIRST PRINT RUN. > > Another auction will be for books 51-100. All books from 101 onward > > will say SECOND EDITION."
> > The bid reached $3050 when eBay pulled the item: "We recently > > suspended this seller's trading privileges. Due to privacy concerns we > > cannot share further details."
> > I worked on this book with Fischer and inspected the sample page > > provided by the seller. Some wording was changed and the analysis was > > indeed improved, possibly with the aid of a computer.
> > Icelandic papers reported that Fischer angrily denied writing it. > > Yet in our extensive e-mails the seller insisted it was no hoax.
> > "So what should I do with all these books then?" she asked. "Why not > > send them -- if they exist -- to Fischer in Iceland?" I replied.
> > Her last message: "I decided to take them to a nearby mall parking > > lot when the weather gets nice and attach a sign: FREE CHESS BOOKS, > > TAKE ONE, TAKE ALL."
On Dec 22 2007, 8:16 am, "parrthe...@cs.com" <parrthe...@cs.com> wrote:
> Anyway, the books are professionally done. I've got over 300 other > chess books myself and I have to say the diagrams in this book are the > most amazing I have ever seen. They are crisp and clear and larger > than the little diagrams in other books. The figurine notation is > unique also. The white pieces have white figurines and the black > pieces have black figurines. I've never seen that anywhere either. You > can almost play the games blindfold when you read such notation. Could > this be another Fischer innovation, simple, and yet a vast improvement > we have all overlooked for so long?
Um, BF is presumed to run the printing shop? What if there is a diagram error? What then?
> > "I know many readers seek answers to probing questions regarding > > the Bobby Fischer of 1972. That person no longer exists. I've wanted > > to release an official version of my book updated in algebraic > > notation with a few minor corrections.
Already been done; see John Nunn's hack job, which is in AN (or maybe FAN), and which has corrections, modifications, deletions-- the whole shebang.
What BF ought to have done is write books covering his entire career, not just rehash his old MSMG. The peak of BF's chess strength came after those sixty games had already been played, so he left it to the wannabes to explain his best games-- and why? Because he was afraid that some analytical errors could eventually be publicized; that his um, god-like persona could get shot down if he took that risk. Gosh, Wally-- it's tough out there in the real world.
I heard that Larry Evans will be kicking off the Far West Open at the Sands Regency Hotel Casino in Reno at 6pm on March 20. His lecture deals with whether the new book attributed to Bobby Fischer is a hoax. Apparently GM Evans has unearthed new information since his article about this mystery in Chess Life Online.
> "This mystery by Larry Evans will be in our March issue. It's quite a > story! Even in death Bobby Fischer continues to generate controversy." > -- Jimmy Adams, editor
> > "You were much more than Jedediah, my friend." -- Bobby's last words > > to GM Larry Evans, who explores this cryptic sentence and unravels the > > mystery of Fischer's role in updating My 60 Memorable Games, one of > > the greatest books in chess literature.
> > > Reprinted courtesy of Chesstours @ all rights reserved.
> > > WAS IT A HOAX?
> > > "No other chess figure has had, has, or will have more autograph > > > imitations than Bobby Fischer GUARANTEED!" Fisching For Forgeries by > > > Lawrence Totaro
> > > Bobby Fischer has kept a low profile since becoming an Icelandic > > > citizen, but he still make news. Another kerkuffle took place at an > > > auction on eBay Canada for a revised edition of his My 60 Memorable > > > Games called My 61 Memorable Games. A foreword was purportedly written > > > by Fischer himself, who is said to be in poor health and low on funds.
> > > "I know many readers seek answers to probing questions regarding > > > the Bobby Fischer of 1972. That person no longer exists. I've wanted > > > to release an official version of my book updated in algebraic > > > notation with a few minor corrections. And why now? The United Bank of > > > Switzerland has taken almost all of the money from my 1992 rematch > > > with Borris Spassky -- over $3,000,000. My ongoing battle with them is > > > getting nowhere despite International Law clearly being on my side. So > > > I bring to you my previous 60 games plus one from the event that has > > > caused me so much trouble, in the hopes that sales of this book will > > > reverse that situation."
> > > Suspicious fans promptly noted that UBS stands for the Union (not > > > United) Bank of Switzerland and that it's Boris (not Borris) Spassky. > > > And why was it signed Robert J. Fischer instead of Bobby Fischer?
> > > The seller stated: "The cover price of this book is $24.95 but as a > > > collector's item of limited production run, they can obviously sell > > > for much more. You are bidding on THE FIRST 50 COPIES OF THIS BOOK! > > > The first 100 copies are marked as SPECIAL EDITION, FIRST PRINT RUN. > > > Another auction will be for books 51-100. All books from 101 onward > > > will say SECOND EDITION."
> > > The bid reached $3050 when eBay pulled the item: "We recently > > > suspended this seller's trading privileges. Due to privacy concerns we > > > cannot share further details."
> > > I worked on this book with Fischer and inspected the sample page > > > provided by the seller. Some wording was changed and the analysis was > > > indeed improved, possibly with the aid of a computer.
> > > Icelandic papers reported that Fischer angrily denied writing it. > > > Yet in our extensive e-mails the seller insisted it was no hoax.
> > > "So what should I do with all these books then?" she asked. "Why not > > > send them -- if they exist -- to Fischer in Iceland?" I replied.
> > > Her last message: "I decided to take them to a nearby mall parking > > > lot when the weather gets nice and attach a sign: FREE CHESS BOOKS, > > > TAKE ONE, TAKE ALL."
61 Memorable Games: A Hoax By Larry Evans April 10, 2008
After three months of back and forth emailing, GM Larry Evans concludes that the supposed new book authorized by Fischer, "My 61 Memorable Games", was an elaborate hoax. Read the original article for background on this follow-up.
In extensive e-mails the Canadian seller repeatedly promised to send me a copy of "My 61 Memorable Games" but never fulfilled this promise. I think that the book may exist on someone's computer but it has not yet appeared in print. Obviously a strong player with Fritz did a lot of work updating the manuscript, but Fischer had nothing to do with it.
The seller's story appears to be a fairy tale. "Helgi" was an invented name who simply doesn't exist either. Ed.Note -- therefore, the guess in the original article that Helgi may be Helgi Olafsson, a big supporter and friend of Fischer, was obviously false.
During three months of dealing with the Canadian Scammer (which I believe is the accurate term for the Liar who strung me along for three months) "she"came up with excuse after excuse for not sending me a copy of the book. The cryptic message I received from Bobby was also bogus. After contacting several people in Iceland who knew Bobby well, I learned that he didn't need money from a new edition. Nor did he wish to see an algebraic version. As I stated originally, he didn't even own the rights to My 60 Memorable Games.
I played along with the Canadian seller in order to gather more information, then encountered one falsehood after another -- too numerous to mention. In order to convince me the book actually exists, the scammer sent page 79 and naively asked who this Weinstein was that Bobby kept attacking (knowing full well that Weinstein was Kasparov before he changed his name). Notice the clever ploy of referring to My Great Predecessors by Kasparov as "Weinstein, Volume IV, page 233" to imitate Bobby's brand of sarcasm.
If the book does surface one of these days, we can pretty much rest assured that it was NOT written or authorized by Bobby Fischer.
Here is the new sample page submitted in order to deceive me.
> I heard that Larry Evans will be kicking off the Far West Open at the > Sands Regency Hotel Casino in Reno at 6pm on March 20. His lecture > deals with whether the new book attributed to Bobby Fischer is a hoax. > Apparently GM Evans has unearthed new information since his article > about this mystery in Chess Life Online.
> parrthe...@cs.com wrote: > > BRITISH MAGAZINE CHESS
> > "This mystery by Larry Evans will be in our March issue. It's quite a > > story! Even in death Bobby Fischer continues to generate controversy." > > -- Jimmy Adams, editor
> > > "You were much more than Jedediah, my friend." -- Bobby's last words > > > to GM Larry Evans, who explores this cryptic sentence and unravels the > > > mystery of Fischer's role in updating My 60 Memorable Games, one of > > > the greatest books in chess literature.
> > > > Reprinted courtesy of Chesstours @ all rights reserved.
> > > > WAS IT A HOAX?
> > > > "No other chess figure has had, has, or will have more autograph > > > > imitations than Bobby Fischer GUARANTEED!" Fisching For Forgeries by > > > > Lawrence Totaro
> > > > Bobby Fischer has kept a low profile since becoming an Icelandic > > > > citizen, but he still make news. Another kerkuffle took place at an > > > > auction on eBay Canada for a revised edition of his My 60 Memorable > > > > Games called My 61 Memorable Games. A foreword was purportedly written > > > > by Fischer himself, who is said to be in poor health and low on funds.
> > > > "I know many readers seek answers to probing questions regarding > > > > the Bobby Fischer of 1972. That person no longer exists. I've wanted > > > > to release an official version of my book updated in algebraic > > > > notation with a few minor corrections. And why now? The United Bank of > > > > Switzerland has taken almost all of the money from my 1992 rematch > > > > with Borris Spassky -- over $3,000,000. My ongoing battle with them is > > > > getting nowhere despite International Law clearly being on my side. So > > > > I bring to you my previous 60 games plus one from the event that has > > > > caused me so much trouble, in the hopes that sales of this book will > > > > reverse that situation."
> > > > Suspicious fans promptly noted that UBS stands for the Union (not > > > > United) Bank of Switzerland and that it's Boris (not Borris) Spassky. > > > > And why was it signed Robert J. Fischer instead of Bobby Fischer?
> > > > The seller stated: "The cover price of this book is $24.95 but as a > > > > collector's item of limited production run, they can obviously sell > > > > for much more. You are bidding on THE FIRST 50 COPIES OF THIS BOOK! > > > > The first 100 copies are marked as SPECIAL EDITION, FIRST PRINT RUN. > > > > Another auction will be for books 51-100. All books from 101 onward > > > > will say SECOND EDITION."
> > > > The bid reached $3050 when eBay pulled the item: "We recently > > > > suspended this seller's trading privileges. Due to privacy concerns we > > > > cannot share further details."
> > > > I worked on this book with Fischer and inspected the sample page > > > > provided by the seller. Some wording was changed and the analysis was > > > > indeed improved, possibly with the aid of a computer.
> > > > Icelandic papers reported that Fischer angrily denied writing it. > > > > Yet in our extensive e-mails the seller insisted it was no hoax.
> > > > "So what should I do with all these books then?" she asked. "Why not > > > > send them -- if they exist -- to Fischer in Iceland?" I replied.
> > > > Her last message: "I decided to take them to a nearby mall parking > > > > lot when the weather gets nice and attach a sign: FREE CHESS BOOKS, > > > > TAKE ONE, TAKE ALL."
