FORGET about oil fu tures. Now’s the time to invest in chess sets.
Avid collectors bid tens of thousands of dollars for beautifully crafted sets in an extraordinary auction in London last week.
A mammoth ivory set, with pieces depicted as prehistoric beasts and sitting on bases carved from fossilized wood, sold for 10,000 pounds, or about $20,000.
The bid was surprising because the sets that go for big bucks are typically of 19th-century Indian or Chinese origin. But the mammoth set was designed and craved by late 20th century Russian craftsmen.
The sale was the first chess-oriented auction by Bonham’s, the respected British house, and it featured some low-priced items:
* A program for an international tournament, Paris 1990, that was signed by Garry Kasparov and six other top GMs, went for 80 pounds.
* A collection of 250 scoresheets from an open event held in London in 1979, sold for 100 pounds.
* A group of four chess-related novels, including Walter Tevis’ “The Queen’s Gambit” and Stephen L. Carter’s “The Emperor of Ocean Park” fetched 70 pounds.