Does anyone remember this story from a few months ago?
http://main.uschess.org/content/view/8175/431
This morning I was surprised to find an e-mail from someone telling me that the whole thing might have originated from Ed "Gothic Chess" Trice.
http://www.labatechess.com/61_games.html
Near the end (5:30) of this interview, Trice claims that Fischer asked him to return to Iceland to help him with "an undisclosed future project"
I thought Trice had said before that he never actually met Fischer when he was in Iceland, but maybe I misunderstood.
It's all very strange.
Originally posted by DawgHausThere is a long article about it by Larry Evans in this month's Chess magazine. It doesn't sound like a hoax there, although I may have missed a subtlety in the story. Larry knew Fischer very well at one time, and had something of an inside track on the story. If this story is to be believed, there are hundreds of copies out there somewhere. A real collectors' item, although a completely illegal one, it would seem.
It always sounded like a hoax, which is what it turned out to be as I recall.
It's also not surprising that other folks might want to use the hoax to further publicize their own product(s), even if they had nothing to do with the original hoax.
This topic is all so bizarrely entertaining. 😏 Hollywood could never be this creative, hehe. It's just so sad that Fischer isn't around any more to continue adding fuel to the fire. I don't know who to believe. I've never had a reason to doubt Evans or Labate; I'm still not sure about Trice.
Anyway, I read part of Labate's post. I'll read the rest later when I get time. One thing I don't understand, is that if Trice's aborted deal with Fischer on the Fischer-Karpov match was as Trice stated, then you would have thought that Trice would have learned his lesson and vowed to never deal with such an unstable person as Fischer in any more business deals. Maybe it's a moth-to-the-flame type of thing, and maybe the lure of riches can cloud your reasoning ability.
Also, in one of Trice's e-mails on Labate's posting, does Trice really say that for a 100,000 book run the printing cost is less than $1.00 a book? I knew printing costs weren't that expensive, but that sounds dirt cheap, even for a huge print run.
Something tells me that this controversy is going to provide more entertainment down the road. Woo Hoo!!!
Originally posted by Mad RookHaving Googled a bit, $1 a book for a 100,000 printing run doesn't seem completely impossible. I would have thought a chess book might be slightly more expensive because of all the diagrams and special characters, but maybe that doesn't matter.
Also, in one of Trice's e-mails on Labate's posting, does Trice really say that for a 100,000 book run the printing cost is less than $1.00 a book? I knew printing costs weren't that expensive, but that sounds dirt cheap, even for a huge print run.
I thought the "61 Memorable Games" was a hoax when I first read about it, and now that I know Trice is involved I am even more convinced.
I just finished reading Labate's posting of the e-mails. A few quick comments:
1) Trice mentions that Fischer was close to running out of money due to UBS's freezing of his approximately 3 million bucks in his UBS account. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't UBS just want to close out his account and wire the funds to a bank in Iceland of Fischer's choice? (I haven't been following this issue closely, but that's what I think I remember reading a while back.) Of course, I know Bobby thought that UBS was breaking the law by wanting to cease doing business with him, but Bobby never was a fount of rationality.
2) I wonder about the legality of "My 61 Memorable Games", if it really exists. Apparently, Bobby didn't own the publishing rights to "My 60 Memorable Games". (How could Ed Trice have overlooked that part of his due diligence?) So by adding one game and reworking the annotations of the games (not sure how many game annotations are claimed to have been reworked, and to what degree - maybe Ed Trice can clarify that), would the "61" book no longer fall under the publishing rights of "60"?
3) I can't get too excited about this whole "My 61 Memorable Games" book issue. IF it's shown to really exist, and IF it's declared to be legal, and IF there are enough copies out there to keep the price reasonable, THEN I could possibly get interested. Until then, if anyone is desirous of getting a copy of "61", I'd recommend that he instead simply buy a used copy of "My 60 Memorable Games" (Simon and Schuster edition) and a new copy of "Fischer Rediscovered", by Andy Soltis. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!
Originally posted by Mad RookSecondhand copies of "My 60 Memorable Games" are very expensive nowadays.
if anyone is desirous of getting a copy of "61", I'd recommend that he instead simply buy a used copy of "My 60 Memorable Games" (Simon and Schuster edition) and a new copy of "Fischer Rediscovered", by Andy Soltis. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!
Originally posted by Fat LadyYeah, you're absolutely right. I shouldn't have said, "simply buy a used copy of "My 60 Memorable Games", since used copies ARE very expensive. Well-used paperback copies would be cheaper, but even those aren't real cheap (maybe around $40 to $80? Not exactly sure of the prices.) Of course, you could try to rationalize the purchase by telling yourself that it's only the equivalent of several new books by other authors.
Secondhand copies of "My 60 Memorable Games" are very expensive nowadays.
It sure would be nice if whoever owns the rights to "60" (Faber?) would reprint the book so we could buy it at a more reasonable price. I don't think they'd have any problems selling them.
Originally posted by adam warlockDon't ask about the algebraic edition of "My 60 Memorable Games"! It was, rather famously, completely cocked up by John Nunn (advertised in the spoof chess magazine Kingpin as "My 60 Unforgettable Games (Fischer’s masterwork, totally rewritten but with no changes to the original text)".
A question on this: Is there any version of this with algebraic notation? Or any other good book on Fischer with algebraic notation?
Originally posted by adam warlockAs Fat Lady mentioned, there was a 1995 Batsford edition of "My 60 Memorable Games" in figurine algebraic, but that edition's been widely criticised as having been butchered by the editors. (There's an article about this by Edward Winter in the link below.)
A question on this: Is there any version of this with algebraic notation? Or any other good book on Fischer with algebraic notation?
However, the other book that I mentioned, "Bobby Fischer Rediscovered", by Andrew Soltis (also published by Batsford!), is also in figurine algebraic. It got a pretty good review by Chesscafe. 100 of Fischer's games annotated by Soltis. (23 of the games in Soltis' book were also in "My 60 Memorable Games".)
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/fischer.html
http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review403.pdf
Originally posted by Mad RookI've been a close friend of Edward Labate for over twenty years, and I am sure that his account of the "My 61 Memorable Games" hoax is 100% accurate.
I've never had a reason to doubt Evans or Labate; I'm still not sure about Trice.
Edit: I'm a big fan of Larry Evans' books and columns, but he is often sloppy with the "facts." The noted chess historian Edward Winter can quote "chapter and verse" of Mr. Evans occasionally not letting the facts get in the way of a good story.
Originally posted by gaychessplayerThat being the case, I wonder whether it was all Trice's own work? The e-mails on Labate's page from my61memorablegames@gmail.com really do have the sound of Ed Trice, e.g. the phrases "you can't convince me" and "for the most part" are ones I've seen him come out with before. I can't see any evidence of anyone else being involved, not in Evan's article or anywhere else.
I've been a close friend of Edward Labate for over twenty years, and I am sure that his account of the "My 61 Memorable Games" hoax is 100% accurate.
Edit: I'm a big fan of Larry Evans' books and columns, but he is often sloppy with the "facts." The noted chess historian Edward Winter can quote "chapter and verse" of Mr. Evans occasionally not letting the facts get in the way of a good story.
He was trying to drum up publicity for the boxes of "61 Memorable Games" back in December:
http://hiarcs.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=5602&highlight=
Why do this unless he was going to profit in some way?
This is the opinion of Mig on his Daily Info column:
http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/2007/12/fischer_book_for_real.htm
Gee, what a shock, "Marcus Froemm" "tryin2get1" "obsurvur" and "Arthur Killington" are all the same person. (Now standardized as "hoaxingfool".) Please keep in mind that identity theft and false claims can lead to fraud charges, especially when money is involved. A routine abuse report has been filed with your ISP to serve as background for any future abuse. Since I have no verifiable way to contact you, and in order to clarify, I'm referring to the person posting from a Comcast account based in or around Philadelphia. (That this whole thing reeks of that buffoon Ed Trice, and that he's based in Philly, is I'm sure a complete coincidence.)
Hoax until PROVEN otherwise, period. For anyone just dropping by, note that the same person posted everything claiming contact with the book and the seller. Bruce Towell has been optimistic but apparently only misguided, not malicious! I assume the "seller" he's been in contact with his the same person trolling here.
We've already heard, though not verified, that Fischer has nothing to do with any new book. Nor have we seen anything other than a bad photoshop image to suggest it really exists. Everything that has come out in defense of it has only made it sound more outlandish and absurd.
Originally posted by adam warlockI would suggest you pick up the original (if you can find it for a reasonable price) and go through the games online: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chesscollection?cid=1000498
Thanks to Fat Lady and Mad Rook. I'll try to find the figurine algebraic version.