Bobby Fischer's chess notes to sell at PFC Auctions next month

An array of grandmaster Bobby Fischer's chess notes are expected to achieve strong results

An exceptionally rare collection of handwritten chess notes from the American grandmaster Bobby Fischer will be one of the many highlights in PFC Auctions' September sale.

"I AM THE BEST AND I CAN SIGN ONLY ABOVE THE OTHERS"

The notes were made by Fischer during the 1970 Herceg Novi Blitz tournament, which he won with a score of 19, beating Mikhail Tal by 4 1/2 points. He would go one to become the world champion in 1972 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest chess players of all time.

Our sister company has managed to acquire the exceptional notes with the very best provenance, having originated from the collection of Slobodan Bodo Stojnic, a friend of Fischer who organised the tournament. They come complete with a letter of provenance from Stojnic's son that provides fantastic background to the remarkable collection.

As one of a number of chess champions to visit Stojnic's house, his son recalls the time Fischer was asked to sign his name on a wall where several other major chess players had already added theirs: "Bobby refused to sign below the others, he said 'I AM THE BEST AND I CAN SIGN ONLY ABOVE THE OTHERS'. I then had to take off a few centimetres of wallpaper from the top of the square and Bobby put his signature there."

Featuring 20 sheets of paper containing 36 pages of handwritten chess notes, which detail eight matches from the tournament, the collection is a truly incredible piece of chess history. It will auction with a minimum bid of just £200.
In 2009 Fischer's personal chess library sold for $61,000, while the original world chess championship set that was used during his legendary match with Boris Spassky in 1972 made $76,275 in 2011.

Have a collectible you would like to sell? We are currently accepting submissions.

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