Sinquefield Autograph 2'x2' Solid Wood Chessboard

Hey guys, figured this belongs in the 'physical chess stuff' section. I'm selling a 2'x2' satin redwood chessboard autographed by Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Levon Aronian, and Gata Kamsky from the first ever Sinquefield cup. For those who don't know, the chess tournament was the strongest on US soil and featured the world #1 and #2 and the US #1 and #2. It was also Carlsen's first ever tournament in the United States, and he won.

Anyway the proceeds are funding my cross country move to + some living expenses in San Francisco. I thought I would link to the item on here as I know there are a lot of chess collectors on here. There are already two people "watching" the item on ebay so I don't know how long it'll stay up, but I hope it finds a good home.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/331066439111?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Wow! That is a great collectors item. Where did you get it from?

Thank you, Nate. I went to the tournament in St. Louis actually. Got there about 2 hours early the day that they had an autograph + picture session and bought the chessboard brand new (decently expensive in its own right) at the St. Louis Chess Club for signing. They only had the players available for signatures and pictures for 90 minutes and I only saw 2 other people get wooden chessboards signed.

It turned out to be more of a historic tournament than I realized, too. Some of the people I talked to while there had driven from as far as Texas and Florida just to watch it. Crazy!

Its really nice IMO. It would be snapped up quickly by a Chess signature collector no doubt.

Not something i would buy, but probably Worth the money

@orangeishblue I wasn't sure how much it would fetch so I started listing it a few weeks ago at several hundred dollars higher, have been lowering it each week it doesn't sell. But this week 2 people started "watching" it on ebay so I think it's at its real value or at least very near it. I think it's the specific combination of players' autographs that is the appeal - not only are they all very strong GMs but there probably won't be a tournament where these 4 are all present again. Very specific item to the Sinquefield Cup.

@9kick9 Thank you!

There are probably more collectors over seas, then in America. As far as price goes, that is upto what the market will pay ( if there is a rich person that wants said item, then thy will pay handsomely for it, especially if its very rare. I've seen strange stuff go for crazy amounts of money before.

The only way I buy something that is considered collectable, is if I like the item, not what I think it may be worth in the future, I personally can't believe you are selling it, but to each their own, and you will probably regret it in the future. Good luck.

@crimsonknight7 Me neither :( Unfortunately I need to move across the country to one of the most expensive cities in the world for career reasons, and I don't have enough money to finance the move without giving up this item.

@orangeishblue Perhaps that is a good idea...

Plus considering that a piece of bread with the resemblance of virgin mary burnt on its side sold for $28,800 on ebay, I don't think a rare high quality solid chessboard autographed by world-reknown chess celebrities from a historic tournament is by any means overpriced at $800 bucks.

I was wondering about authenticity myself...

not that I'm likely to buy it (prohibitive shipping costs and import duties) but just out of interest, what is the size of the individual squares, and can you say something more about the board itself. Is it solid wood or veneer, what size of squares, a bit more on the board itself. Maybe a better pic of the board. Thanks. Alejandro. 

@orangeishblue Your idea about how many people in the world are aware of these players is vastly off. Carlsen has been on talk shows all over the world including interviews with Stephen Colbert and Charlie Rose. He was named one of the sexiest men in the world in Cosmopolitan's magazine 2013. And it's estimated that more than a billion people are following the ongoing WCC match.

http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/comment/articles/2013-11/14/magnus-carlsen-games-2013-viswanathan-anand

Needless to say, an incredible number of people are aware of Carlsen. As for the others, I am quite sure many of the between 605 and 700 million people worldwide that play chess (http://www.chessmaniac.com/index.php/2012/12/27/how-many-chess-players/) are aware of these top names in the game.

@stephenmichael17 As far as authenticity goes, I looked into getting it certified authentic but as was said, there is no database of signatures for a notary to compare them to so this is impossible. What I do have in order to prove to the buyer that this is the real thing I am presenting it to be, is a picture of me in the room where the signing took place (it was actually a rented out half of the sports bar Lester's next door to the St. Louis Chess Club) with all 4 GMs in the picture, as well as myself and the chessboard in question right there on the signing table. I have updated the listing with this picture.

@somebodysson The board was crafted in Spain. Each of the 64 squares square is 2.25" x 2.25" in size. Altogether including the frame, it is 2 feet x 2 feet dimensions. The thickness is 0.5" throughout. The board has a satin finish and features redwood (dark) and bird's eye maple (light) squares with a redwood frame. I looked around online and I am nearly certain this is the board I bought (http://www.uscfsales.com/redwood-and-bird-s-eye-maple-standard-traditional-chessboard-satin-finish.html) which for the 2.25" squares size goes for $134 + shipping. It's about as nice of a wooden chess board as you can get. It really looks really good in person.

thank you kebanaboy. my fingers are itchy, I just don't know why...just sayin' 

Wow over 100 views on the item! 1 day to go in the sale

But no bids yet?

I have a feeling the people who are interested are intentionally waiting 'til the last minute so as to get as good a price as possible and not let others know of their interest.

I'm not bidding on it. I just can't justify it with my limited income. Someone will buy it, and cherish it, don't worry. Stuff will happen closer to bid time. IT often happens with ebay, and I"ve heard some people use computers to generate last second bids to win stuff, and to outbid others, but I imagine other people know far more about this than me. Its a gorgeous board, a gorgeous story, and it will make someone happy, and it will get you to California too