
An autographed chessboard and the chessmen which were used in the third game
of the “Match of the Century” between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky
in Reykjavík in 1972 were sold at a Philip Weiss Auction auction in New
York on Saturday. The price paid by the new owner, who remained anonymous,
was US $76,275 (ISK 7.7 million, EUR 48,000).

The auctioned board. The photo is from Philip
Weiss Auctions – i.e. it was of course not us that
mispositioned the kings and the queens.
The board and pieces were sold by Gudmundur G. Thórarinsson, who was
president of the Icelandic Chess Federation at the time of the duel. Our readers
will remember from a recent
article he wrote on the Lewis Chessmen. Gudmundur told journalists that
he decided to sell the set because of his tight financial situation; he has
a loan in foreign currency which grew after the crisis hit.
The Icelandic Chess Federation had decided to present Thórarinsson with
the chess set as a gift on his birthday the year after the 1972 Reykjavík
duel because of his part in organizing it. The decision was controversial at
the time; some people argued these objects belonged at the National Museum.
“The chessboard and chessmen which they used in Laugardalshöll are
of course in the National Museum but these chessmen have a very interesting
history,” Thórarinsson said. He explained that Fischer didn’t
want to continue to play inside the sports arena after the first chess game
because he thought the cameras were disturbing. He therefore gave up the second
match and the duel was in a state of upheaval. “People managed to convince
him to play the third game in a backroom of Laugardalshöll and this is
when these chessmen were used. This game is often called ‘The Legendary
Third Game’ because it saved the duel.”
A postcard from Reykjavík
While we are on the subject we would like to share a postcard we recently received
with our readers. It came from our Icelandic friend and colleague Einar S. Einarsson,
who also featured in the articles on the Lewis Chessmen.

The postcard with a famous and very poignant picture of Fischer during
his final years in Iceland

The postcard had two Bobby Fischer stamps issued by the Icelandic postal
department

Detail of the stamps, which chess playing philatelists will treasure
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