Each month brings new curious fair-goers. Also bear in mind, when <JFQ> donated Mrs. Alekhine, it was to improve the Fischer page.

Would any normal person, that purchased M61MG for several hundred dollars, *resist public authentication of the book?*

-By not submitting it or scanning parts of it for review and discussion (out of basic human curiosity and to prevent fraud to fellow chess fans), as these three have done?

-Without being in cahoots or having ulterior motives?

Not probable, as it defies both basic human nature and curiosity - to bury 'Bobby's book' under one's pillow - while each person proclaims to the high heavens,"It's authentic!"

* Without submitting M61MG for impartial review and authentication such conduct, on the part of these three chess enthusiasts, smacks of a more concerted ulterior motive.*

Note the secret encrypted message = "et loves Queen and el doesnt aight" which can be frequently found in English gobbletygook or foreign language postings. Maybe there's the companion project M61MC = My 61 Memorable Cyphers.

I wondered if this thread was about the book or about the promoter. Perhaps it is way too late to distinguish the two.

Yes, that gets confusing. When discussing the book, I try to stay with the book itself, rather than to much about Trice or the history of how the book came to be.

I would like to make an observation: The people who believe the book are real seem to believe in conspiracy theories. For example, one proponent of the book being real recently posted "I don't think either Ed [Trice] has more than a peripheral relation with the book", which is the sign of a classic conspiracy theory.

People who believe the book is real believe Trice is part of some underground conspiracy that somehow managed to hide the existence of the book from the people closest to Fischer in his last days.

It's an interesting theory, and people have the right to believe what they want to believe, but I'm not the kind of person to subscribe to conspiracy theories. The following scenario is far more likely:

(Note: This is a hypothetical scenario and what really happened may differ in small or significant ways)

<Trice, in 2006, starting planning in his head a match with Bobby Fischer in order to promote his failing Gothic Chess enterprise. He got a lot of attention, including getting one of the Polgar sisters to promote the tournament herself and play a game with Trice.

While the tournament never happened--Fischer, despite everything else, was able to smell something fishy--Trice was pleased with the amount of attention he got by invoking Fischer's name.

At this point, Trice started planning making a book "secretly written by Fischer". Most likely, the book was not ready when Trice started sending emails to Labate in late 2007. However, Trice got enough attention and offers for the book he finished up the book 2008 sometime. (Trice will sometimes do this; claim something exists that doesn't exist, but then turn around and actually implement it; for example, in 2000 he claimed to have a program stronger than Zillions at playing Gothic Chess, but Gothic Vortex did not become a reality until 2004 or 2005)

It late 2007, Trice asked Einar Einarsson for a picture of Fischer. Einar Einarsson gave him a picture he gave no one else, which became the cover art for the book.

Around 2008, Trice started selling the book using throw-away Craigslist postings and other ways to make it not completely obvious he was the person behind the fraud. It probably would have worked except he angered the wrong person with his fraud, and Labate went public about Trice's scam.

This probably all but killed sales for the book; however, since Trice invested some money getting the book published, he kept trying to sell the book, including trying to sell it at a Chess tournament a month ago. This resulted in Trice getting kicked out of the tournament hall.

Fischer never had anything to do with the book, and Trice has acted alone in making and trying to sell this book.>

(End hypothetical story based on the facts as I see them)

- and a notorious liar and renowned impostor, who wants to make us believe that it is so.>>

Shameless charlatans trying to exploit his name, and getting hounded by the country whose honor he upheld in a memorable match in 1972.

The man deserved better than he received, but let's not forget that Joe Louis too was stepped on by Uncle Sam.

IMlday's comment was meant to include both Ed Trice AND Ed Labate (not just Trice). Essentially this is a position I held as well, for many months, initially. I am not so adamant today, but still allow a slim possibility that <ET> was doing someone else's bidding.

Ed Labate, in my judgement, was truly peripheral to the book's publication, as you indicate, until he stepped into the fray with all cannons blazing.

Your 10,000 ft view of the affair seems solid, although it doesn't account for many annoying details, imo.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/fea...

Telegraph Neil Tweedie
Published: 12:01AM GMT 25 Jan 2008

~So much about Bobby Fischer was a mystery. He liked it that way, keeping people guessing. No way would the fallen angel of world chess have allowed the media a feeding frenzy. Hence the unauthorised "guerrilla" funeral uncovered by the Telegraph this week; a strange secret end to a strange secret life... There was much that Fischer kept to himself: his marriage, if marriage it was, and his daughter, a little girl living far away in the Philippines... Most of Fischer's public life is well documented, but his final years in Iceland are less well-known. Icelanders pride themselves on not being seduced by celebrity, preferring to leave famous visitors in peace. Fischer arrived in March 2005 and found a haven in Reykjavik, where he was supported by a small circle of friends. Some have broken their silence for the first time to talk of Fischer. "Bobby could be such fun," said Einar Einarsson, one of those who helped get him into Iceland. "I remember him singing My Way as I drove him in the car. He could be gentle and kind, particularly to children. In many ways he was a quite normal person. But there was always that dark side - he believed that dark forces were out to get him." Was he mad?
''I think that he was an angry man rather than a mad man." **Mr Einarsson was upset by his exclusion from Fischer's funeral** and is concerned about its legality... Fischer's need for privacy was all consuming...
His mercurial streak never left him, though. Friends fell in and out of favour depending on whim. **Speaking to the media was a capital offence requiring immediate exclusion from his circle**. And there was always potential for the explosive, irrational rant... ...another friend of Fischer came to Miss Watai's defence. She told the Telegraph: "There is simply no question that Miyoko was the closest person to Bobby and by far the most special person in his life. She is a woman of absolute integrity who will undoubtedly ensure his daughter is taken care of, should she inherit his estate. She met Bobby in the 1970s and there was probably a relationship from that time. She was passionate about him and is devastated by his death. She promised never to betray his confidences and she will observe that promise."

<Fischer's life in Reykjavik was a simple one. He was to be seen in the coffee shops and book stores of the Icelandic capital's bohemian quarter, reading and avoiding eye contact. In particular, he frequented the Bokin bookshop, which he would visit twice a week, occupying for hours a chair set aside especially for him in the corner. He devoured everything from history to biography, and was also fond of reading Dennis the Menace comic books imported for him from the US. People asking for autographs were greeted with stern silence.>

<Fischer's need for privacy was all consuming. Often he would arrive late at a restaurant so as to avoid unwelcome attention. But he was also to be spotted dining with friends, enjoying jokes.>

and compare the threatening tone directed against the woman selling chess books in Texas with the threatening tone of the harassment emails directed against the woman selling chess books in Ottawa two years later? Particularly this bit:

(...)
LINDA 'HUSSEIN' GRIFFIN: Linda Griffin is just like Hussein. He was only willing to negotiate when he was caught in that rat hole. Griffin is no different...she'll be caught in the rat hole, and will only do what a court forces her to do. She obviously can't be trusted to even do what she wrote up and signed. She's had seven months to do what's right, and she won't. Until she sees process servers, bank levies, and liens on everything she owns, she won't do what's right. Rather than admit the errors of her ways, and just ship the DAMN books as per the Bill Of Sale, she's now claims I've cheated her, yet can't seem to provide one shred of evidence except to fabricate a statement I've never made. If the books were here, I'd be paying. Well, they're not here, and I received an email on June 22 demanding I send her my first payment as per the 'BILL OF SALE' overlooking one small...little...itty...bitty...insignificant...-
sorry to bother
you...detail...over 90% of the Inventory has yet to arrive!!!

LINDA 'HUSSEIN' GRIFFIN needs to be trapped...like the sniveling lowlife that she is...and then hear her squealing for mercy...and there won't be any!!

(...)

Those of you that would like to send LINDA 'HUSSEIN' GRIFFIN your thoughts on the above, please contact her @ martiniat8@xxxxxxxxx or jimmyglindag@xxxxxxxxxx Thank you...

Edward Labate
National Chess Master

Labate, by doing this, has saved many people who would have been otherwise scammed by Trice. I thank him for that.

While I don't like Trice's dishonesty, I think he had a good idea with Gothic Chess.

As for Fischer, to me he is the reincarnated spirit of Morphy; they both were people who, once becoming world champion, all but stopped playing chess, and who lost their mind after they retired from Chess.

I know, I know; it's all part of Fischer's "mystery." Wrapped in an enigma, smothered with secret sauce, yada yada yada ...

only one post ever.. and it is here and PRO M61MG