Nope, one of the rules was that the amateurs moved first.  So Rajko Vujatovic played e4, I played c5, Nigel played Nf3, and Garry played e6, etc.

He got to move out of New Jersey?

"I was 21 before I realized that we were free to go."

--Jake Johannsen (on leaving Iowa)

Thanks everyone, much appreciated!

One big highlight was my preparation with Kasparov the day before the Staunton Memorial game.  I went to his hotel, and who comes strolling out to meet me... Anatoly Karpov!  Then Kasparov came down, and it was just the three of us!

Malcolm Pein asked me to write an article about it for Chess Magazine, so I did.  It's part of the overall article about the Staunton Memorial event.  Here are the 3 pages from the October 2010 issue (if anyone is interested).

http://www.chessreference.com/Misc/ChessMag_2010-Oct/1.jpg

http://www.chessreference.com/Misc/ChessMag_2010-Oct/2.jpg

http://www.chessreference.com/Misc/ChessMag_2010-Oct/3.jpg

My friend Sir Alan Fersht snapped some photos during the game --

https://picasaweb.google.com/Fersht/JaquesNo8GarryJonAndNigel#

One thing that's a little misleading in the articles is that there was no bidding whatsoever.  Rajko and I weren't the "winning bidders".  Several months beforehand, my friend Ray Keene e-mailed to ask if I'd be interested in the spot, and we agreed on the necessary donation amount.  The same thing happened later with Rajko as Nigel Short's partner.  As a result, Rajko and I e-mailed back and forth in friendly fashion for a month or so before the game.  In the Chess article, Rajko points out that he found out about the non-consultation aspect of the game only two days beforehand, which is true, because I told him -- as soon as I found out, I e-mailed him so he would know (I figured it was the sporting thing to do.)

Thanks Klinkhammer.  I'm an active chess collector and I also do a lot of research on antique chess sets.

Regarding the Carlsen simul -- I went there with the expectation that I wouldn't be able to play.  My friend and chess teacher Lev Alburt had told me about it and invited me, but all boards in the simul were taken by then (several days beforehand).  Then when I got there, I was talking with Lev and another person whom I didn't know, and I was expressing regret that I wouldn't be able to play, but then the other person responded, "would you like to play?" and I said "sure, but there aren't any spots left" and he said, "I think I can get you in there, I'm the organizer and we reserved one of the boards."  Fantastic!  So before I knew it, I'm sitting across from Magnus as one of the 14 boards.  

Some of the people didn't appear to be chessplayers at all.  The guy next to me answered 1. e4 with b5.  Magnus knocked out about half the players within 20 minutes or so.  Eventually it was down to 3, then 2, then just Magnus and me, and I was still lost at that point, but I threw a couple "hail-Mary" moves at him -- ...Nb7 after which he played Qc7[?] which looks good but Nd6! gets Black out of the bind; and especially ...f5! at which point Magnus visibly flinched and played Qxf5+ g6 Qe4[?].  Rybka shows a lengthy win for White after Qf8+, but to human eyes, Qe4 looked like the right move, but it gave me the time I needed to play Rd1+ and force the draw.

I won a big magnum of champagne that Magnus signed, and also a cheesy little chess set & board that Magnus also signed.  The NY Times guy interviewed me briefly, and I'm appreciative that he wrote the article, even though he made me sound like an incompetent Walter Mitty.  Oh well.

You're right, it's not easy to find the early Jaques sets, especially 1849, with the "J. Jaques London" king stamp instead of the 1850-and-onwards "Jaques London" king stamp.  Only a few of the very early Jaques sets were immaculate.  Otherwise I had some minor restoration work done on them by one of the top chess restorers.

For older timers, occasionally one will come up on eBay -- in fact a Fattorini timer sold just a few days ago.  Other timers I've gotten from antique chess dealers or in private transactions with other collectors.  But I purchased most of mine from various auctions at the U.K. auction houses.  For those, I usually bid remote/absentee.  Here are 3 vintage chess timers for sale in an upcoming auction on March 5 at Batemans Auctioneers in Stamford U.K. -- lot 366.  If you wanted to bid on the auction lot, you could go to their website and submit an absentee bid.  (I won't be bidding on it.)  I use a subscription service, artfact.com, to search many auction houses for upcoming antique chess items.  This is also how I get most of the antique Jaques sets.