Mo. couple buys Bobby Fischer’s chess library
The Associated Press
Thursday, Jun. 11, 2009
ST. LOUIS — A Missouri couple with a strong interest in chess says they’ve bought the chess library of legendary player Bobby Fischer.
Retired investment company executives, Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield (SINK’ field), say the collection includes hundreds of chess books. It also has bound volumes outlining the match histories of several masters, including Fischer’s rival Boris Spassky.
Fischer beat Spassky in 1972, ending years of Soviet domination in the World Championship.
The Sinquefields acquired the collection Wednesday through a San Francisco-based auction house for $50,000. They are deciding on a secure location to display the collection.
They were instrumental in starting the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis, where this year’s U.S. championship was played.
Source: http://www.bnd.com/
Sinquefields buy Bobby Fischer’s chess library
St. Louis Business Journal
Philanthropist millionaires Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield spent $61,000 to buy the chess library of the legendary Bobby Fischer, including notebooks he prepared for his 1972 World Championship match with Boris Spassky.
The Sinquefields acquired the collection through San Francisco-based auction house, Bonhams and Butterfields.
“I am thrilled to have this collection from arguably the greatest chess player in history,” said Rex Sinquefield, founder and board president of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, in a statement. “I have been a lifelong fan of Bobby Fischer.”
The reclusive Fischer died in 2008 at 64. The collection purchased by the Sinquefields includes 320 books on chess; about 400 issues of chess-related periodicals; three sets of proofs for Fischer’s 1969 book, “My 60 Memorable Games”; and a number of bound volumes detailing the match histories of several chess masters, including Spassky.
The Spassky-related works center on Fischer’s preparation for his historic 1972 match, won by Fischer. The victory ended 24 years of Soviet domination of the World Championship.
The collection also includes a copy of “Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess,” with a note indicating that Fischer planned on suing the publishers.
Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield, who are retired investment company executives, said they weren’t yet sure of their plans for the Fischer collection.
Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/
Video of the auction here.
It was all over in seconds. Bobby Fischer’s library filled three glass cases in on the Mezzanine level of Bonhams nd Butterfields auction house on Madison Avenue in New York. The hundreds of chess books in various languages, issues of chess-related periodicals, proofs for Fischer’s My 60 Memorable Games, and assorted notes and other miscellanea were sold in one lot for a “hammer price” of USD $50,000, plus a $11,000 Bonhams commission…
The video accompanying the post is published under a Creative Commons license (”BY-NC-ND“), meaning it can be freely re-posted and shared, with attribution.
“They are deciding on a secure location to display the collection.”
The SPICE chess museum at the The Southwest Collection at TTU, of course!
You can connect the exhibit to a 24 hour a day live web camera for all around the world to see!
😀
Why didn’t you buy it Susan, you got $50 G’s in the ashtray of your Ferrari?
“The collection also includes a copy of “Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess,” with a note indicating that Fischer planned on suing the publishers.”
Why would Bobby sue his own publishers?
Unless, of course, someone else used his name without permission and published a chess book using Bobby’s name.
i would be pissed off too.
Is this the case?
“Why didn’t you buy it Susan, you got $50 G’s in the ashtray of your Ferrari?”
She drives a Bentley and no she is happy owning the bones of Bobby Fischer.
She had them made into an ultra-rare chess set.
Breaking news: grandmaster Matulovic will sue Chessbase for the lies posted at http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5503
I hope this will be the end of the chess websites posting false information on chess legends.
I am surprised, actually, that the collection went for so little money. I thought some of the CCI people might bid up a lot more to take the collection, perhaps hoping to subsequentlysell parts of it off.
I suppose we’ll never know whether the Smithsonian put in a bid, even a low-ball bid. This amazing part of Americana, now in the hands of private individuals.
Frankly, I am not sure how I feel about that. I’m just sad right now. Sad that the legacy of Bobby Fischer ended up going for what I consider pennies on the dollar.
Jan Newton
Goddeschess.com
Knowing Rex Sinquefield (who is as big a Fischer fan than you can imagine) and the good he’s doing for chess in St. Louis, I believe this to be a good move. This is a collection that definitely won’t be hidden away to be viewed in private by a small clique of collectors. And indeed already the St. Louis people are thinking how best to show and display.
Remember: this is a group that invested in a $1m state of the art chess club and then sponsored there this year the US Championship, the US Women’s Championship to come in October, and announced sponsorship of the 2010 US Championship.
Susan i see you errwhere ! What the H is Goichberg and the boys tinkin?
How did this get by DeLucia?