Lund Chess Academy recently held the latest of its regular online chess book auctions and many interesting and valuable lots went under the hammer. The auctions are admirably organised and conducted by Per Skoldager abd Calle Erlandsson whom I thank for allowing reproduction of the auction details and images.
There was keen competition for several scarce and sought after periodicals including the following:
British Chess Review, edited by Daniel Harrwitz, London, volume I only for 1853. This sold for €500 which was possibly good value as a full run of this periodical (12 issues for volume I and six issues in 1854 for volume II) sold in an LSAK auction earlier this year for €2,071.
A complete three volume run of The Amateur Chess Magazine, edited by James Chatto, London, 1872 to 1874, realised €270. From May 1873 the title changed to The Amateur and the chess content gradually diminished in favour of other amusements.
Shakhmaty (Novoye Vremya), edited by Chigorin, St Petersburg, 1891-92. An almost complete run containing all 32 issues of Volume I and 10 (of 14) issues from volume II. This sold for €335. This periodical is listed in Sakharov, 1968 edition, No. 218, 2001 edition No. 263, and LN 6313 but, curiously, is not in Di Felice's Chess Periodicals.
A rare full run of 38 supplements from the Danish magazine Vor Tid for 1883 realised €706. Each supplement contained two pages of chess edited by J. Jesperson and O. Meisling.
Volumes I and II of Oesterreichische Lesehalle, Vienna 1881-1882 filled a gap in someone's collection for €665. This monthly journal for entertainment and education had a chess department edited by Hermann Lehner with help from numerous contributors.
A complete run of the short lived Czech magazine Šachová svět for 1925-26, edited by Miroslav Soukup, was knocked down for €817.
A good run of the Spanish magazine Problemas (Sociedad Española de problemistas de Ajedrez) consisting of volumes II to VIII for the years 1947 to 1966, published in Barcelona and attractively bound in three volumes, sold for €1,110. Cleveland only has a very incomplete set of this magazine. 24 issues of Problemas for 1946 and 1947 were sold separately for €82.
The first two volumes of Neue Berliner Schachzeitung for 1864 and 1865, edited by A. Anderssen and G. R. Neumann, sold for €128 and €110. Various early volumes of The British Chess Magazine for the years 1884 to 1892 sold for between €121 and €211. An incomplete volume of Revista del Club Argentino de Ajedrez for 1921 made €155, and an odd volume of Dubuque Chess Journal (always hard to find) sold for €160.
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Among the intriguing items of memorabilia was a chess related poem written by Adolf Anderssen a few weeks after winning the London 1851 international chess tournament. This sold for €1,500.
A letter written by Frank Marshall to Rufus Stevenson dated January 1913 fetched €325, while a brief five line message written by Alekhine in French sold for €653.
A Postcard with the signatures of 23 of the 24 players in the 1970 match between USSR and The World (Fischer's signature is missing) sold for €244.
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Among the tournament books, the following attracted the most attention:
Der Dritte Kongress des Deutschen Schachbundes, Nürnberg 1883, by E. Schallopp, Leipzig 1884: €67.
A Siesta - Szanatórium Nemzetközi Sakkversenye, Budapest, 1928, by F. Chalupetzky and L. Toth, Kecskemét 1929. An attractive work on the event won by Capablanca (who also contributed to the book) ahead of Marshall: €174.
Skák: The Icelandic Chess Magazine. The 23 special issues covering the 1972 World Championship match between Spassky and Fischer: €166.50.