Chess book auction in Gothenburg

At 1 to 6 pm on March 31st the 40th chess book auction of the Manhem Chess Society was held in Gothenburg, Sweden - with KWA and SS Manhem member Stellan Persson and Mrs Siv Ewert making up the well-established team of the auctioneers. A total of 847 items was put up for auction, you may find them in the catalogue at the SS Manhem website (here the catalogue as pdf-file).

The tournament books on Cambridge Springs 1904, Copenhagen 1923 (with a dedication of Ove Rützou to Nimzowitsch) and Györ 1924 were among the items most in demand, as well as many books having originally been part of Aaron Nimzowitsch’s library, all having a stamp and some also autographs such as the tournament book Niendorf 1927, and many volumes of Kagans Neueste Schachnachrichten. Volume I and II of Schachmatny Listok (1876+1877) were sold for about 500 Euros and you had to pay the same sum for the 5th and 6th volume of Nuova Rivista degli Scacchi (1879+1880). A further gem for bibliophiles was the South African Chess Magazine 1936-1939 (vol. 2-5) for about 460 Euros.

Most of our Nordic members were among the approximately 25 visitors: Per Skjoldager, Jes Knudsen, Claes Løfgren (all Denmark), Øystein Brekke (Norway), Peter Holmgren and Calle Erlandsson (both Sweden). Skjoldager’s fellow researcher in the field of Nimzowitsch, Jørn Erik B. Nielsen, came from Denmark as well.

The 41st Manhem auction will probably be held in March/April 2008.

(Calle Erlandsson)