Winter 2015

Alabama Chess

Antics

Inside this issue:

14th Dothan

Open

by Bryan Tillis

4

The

Grandmasters…

and me

by Scott Varagona

8

Winter Chess

Puzzles

by various authors

13

White to Play and

Win

by Stephen Graveling

14

Remembering

Clarence Kalenian

by Dr. Mark Kalenian

16

Snapshots from

the Magic City

Classic

by Scott Varagona

17

The Official Publication

of the Alabama Chess

Federation

the

QUEEN

Here Comes

Q

Q

The 44th Annual Queen of Hearts tournament is on February 20-21, 2016.

Page 2 Alabama Chess Antics

We have a jam-packed Winter 2015 issue! What a great way to look back on the last few events of 2015, and look ahead to the upcoming big tournaments of 2016. Thanks very much to all the contributors to this issue:

Bryan Tillis, who submitted a report and annotated game from his win at the 14th Dothan Open;

Jonathan Rasberry and Caesar Lawrence, who sent me games that fit well into the Winter Puzzles section;

Stephen Graveling, who created a tricky chess composition and helps walk us through it.

I contributed two articles, including a condensed, one-page report (which I’m calling a “Snapshot” report) on the Magic City Classic. I hope this kind of report (with very light notes) will encourage more players to submit their games to the Antics. Do not be daunted by the prospect of annotating a game in detail; a few remarks (or none) are fine.

Finally, special thanks to Dr. Mark Kalenian for his memoir of his father, the legendary Clarence Kalenian. I am very happy that the Antics has the chance to print a proper tribute to Clarence for his remarkable life and memorable chess career. As the cover of this Antics reminds us, one of Alabama’s biggest annual events, the Queen of Hearts tournament, is coming up soon! Many other events are also coming up (see the back page of this issue), but perhaps most notably, scholastic players all over the state will be gearing up for the Alabama State Scholastic Chess Championships in Indian Springs. See the Alabama Chess Federation’s website (now located at www.alabamachess.org) for details. So many exciting things are going on in Alabama chess right now, especially in the area of Alabama Chess in Schools

(ACIS). For example, the ACF was awarded a grant from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama to support its ACIS program, and many pilot programs in schools have already been launched. There is more to say about all this than I can possibly fit here, so again: check out the ACF website to learn more. As always, I welcome submissions to the Antics from Alabama players of all levels. Please send pictures, articles, and games to your Antics Editor via

Alabama.Chess.Editor@gmail.com

-Scott Varagona

Greetings from the Editor

ACF Membership

Any individual may become a Regular

Member upon the payment of annual dues of

$10.00. Regular members may enter ACF

tournaments and receive special publications or

notices from ACF as they are issued. Any chess

club seeking to become an Affiliate is

required to file the Affiliate Information Form

with the Secretary of the ACF and pay annual

dues of $25.00. Benefits of becoming an

affiliate include the right to bid to host ACF-

sanctioned events, such as the Alabama State

Championship, and to receive advertising

through the ACF for your tournaments.

Paragua-Varagona, 2015. White to Play… (see p. 11)

Page 3 Fall 2015

1 FM BRADLEY J DENTON 2330 26 WILLIAM BLACKMAN 1899

2 SCOTT VARAGONA 2279 27 SHAWN BAULDRY 1894

3 BILL MELVIN 2200 28 CHRISTOPHER TREES 1874

4 MATTHEW V PUCKETT 2171 29 CHARLES A. SMITH 1865

5 STEPHEN ADAMS 2145 30 STEPHEN JOHN PETRANY 1865

6 REX E BLALOCK 2143 31 CHARLES H ANTHONY 1863

7 GERALD A LARSON 2135 32 TYLER C RHODES 1851

8 DANIEL H THOMAS 2134 33 STEVE MENGXI CHEN 1849

9 BRENT H INMAN 2127 34 KENNETH JIAO 1845

10 JOSEPH JURJEVICH 2123 35 BRIAN MCCORMICK 1830

11 GORDON JAMALL RANDALL 2102 36 THOMAS H LAWRY 1823

12 WILL THOMAS STEVENSON 2074 37 RHODES PEELE 1821

13 STEPHEN JAMES GRAVELING 2067 38 KENNETH W GOODMAN 1805

14 JONATHAN RASBERRY 2033 39 ROCHELLE WU 1802

15 RONNIE NETTLES 2017 40 TIM BOND 1800

16 JOSHUA THOMAS MCCLELLAN 2016 41 RAY DOWNS 1800

17 GEORGE RUSYNIAK 1998 42 ABRAHAM KUNIN 1799

18 JEFF TOBIN 1975 43 JOHN MARCUS FIQUETT 1786

19 TRIET MINH VO 1967 44 DOUGLAS STROUT 1784

20 ROGER D JOHNSON 1965 45 LUIS J MORENILLA 1774

21 TERRENCE W EDINBURGH 1960 46 KENNETH SLOAN 1752

22 MILES MELVIN 1943 47 ADRIAN J MAJERLE 1744

23 ARDEN QUINLAN MARKIN 1928 48 MARK THOMAS PETERSON 1734

24 SIJING WU 1926 49 KEN KIRBY 1723

25 KIRK D PETTY 1900 50 AHMED MOHAMED AMER 1700

Alabama Chess Leaderboard Top 50 Ratings (retrieved from uschess.org on 2-6-16)

Page 4 Alabama Chess Antics

The Dothan Chess Club wanted to make a change this year with their namesake tournament taking place the day after Christmas. Due to horrible weather (Highway 231 was under 6 inches of water) many of our pre-entrants were stranded and out of the competition. In total, we had nine chess players show up for an overall great event. I directed and played in the event; here is my key round three victory over George Rusyniak, an Expert from the Mobile area.

Tillis, Bryan - Rusyniak, George (2207) (2020)

14th Dothan Open December 26, 2015

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.g3 e6 This move order isn’t black’s best course of action, as it whittles his good options down to only the Tarrasch. I am a big fan of the Four Knights English on both sides of the board. See my game against the late IM Emory Tate in a previous edition of the Antics which followed: 4...g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.0-0 0-0 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Ng4, an odd move which has brought me success in the past but not against Tate! 5.Bg2 Be7 The standard Tarrasch is 5...d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.d4 Be7 8.0-0 0-0. Now 9.dxc5 is a simple line advocated for by

GM Boris Avrukh in the first GM Repertoire series book: 9...Bxc5 10.Na4 Be7 11.Be3 Re8 12.Rc1 where white’s simple policy is to have complete control over the c5 square. You want to trade off the dark squared bishop, blockade the pawn and eventually win it and get a long-term advantage. (9...d4 10.Na4 Bf5 is the more aggressive alternative. In nearly all variations (and white has many options) black will simply play with his initiative and play for a kingside attack usually starting by means of …Qd7 and

14th Dothan Open By NM Bryan Tillis

The 14th Dothan Open Champion (scoring 4/4)

Bryan Tillis with club President Dan Williams

Page 5 Fall 2015

…Bh3, or restriction of white’s light squared bishop: 11.Bd2 Be4 12.b4 Qd5 13.Qb3 Qh5. I believe in this line that both sides of the board have gotten what they are looking for, but white scores 100% in my database from this position.) 6.0-0 0-0 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 a6

Prior to the game, I had found a few of my opponent’s previous games in the database and he favored Sicilian-style structures. So, I figured his treatment of the English would be similar. 9.b3 Bc5 9...Bb4 seems more aggressive but turns out poorly for black; this line already shows the difficulties in the positon to find a suitable plan: 10.Bb2 Qa5 11.Na4 d5 12.a3 Be7 13.b4 Qc7 14.cxd5 Nxd5 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.Rc1 where in the long-term the weakness of

the c-pawn shall be telling. 10.e3 e5 Trying to get to a position similar to a Sicilian Sveshnikov. 11.Nde2 d6 12.Bb2 Bg4 13.h3 Bh5 Around this time I developed a policy of restricting ideas. My opponent had used a large amount of time to find a constructive plan in the game and I wanted simply to apply slow but steady pressure until the breaking point. (Here, White had 55 minutes, Black 35 minutes.) 14.a3 Qe7 15.Qd2 Rad8 Or 15...Na5 16.Nc1 Bb6 17.Nd5 Nxd5 18.Qxd5 with play similar to the main game.

Diefei Zhu facing Randall Tew in

their 4th round encounter

Page 6 Alabama Chess Antics

16.b4 Bb6 As soon as my opponent made this move I was already thinking how the Bishop will get in trouble on the b6 square. 17.Rac1 Ba7 Clearly wasting a full tempo. Around this time I began considering the static features of the positon and came to the plan much like a Sicilian. When the d5 square is available you want to place a piece on d5 to stop the advance of the d6 pawn, and if black captures the piece you need to be able to recapture with a piece (not a pawn, which would protect the d6 weakness). 18.Rfe1 This starts my plan of playing Nd5 as now I can take back with the Queen and apply more pressure on the long diagonal. 18...Rfe8 19.Nd5 Nxd5 20.Qxd5 Qe6 21.Qd2

I’m not happy with trading Queens as my lady is much better than his. 21...Ne7 Starting to threaten a break in the position. 22.Nc3 h6 23.Kh2 I’m now threatening to take on b7 with no consequences. 23...Rd7 Simply defending b7... At this time my opponent had gotten down under five minutes and I was around the twenty-minute mark. This is now the time I began a clear plan to go after black’s king. 24.g4 Weakening my kingside and creating a double-edged situation as it allows counterplay. 24...Bg6 25.Nd5 h5 Black finally gets a little play. 26.gxh5 A strong tactical resource that I missed was 26.Nf4 exf4 (26...Qf6 27.Nxh5 Bxh5 28.gxh5 is stronger than the main game) 27.exf4 where the Queen’s awkward position leads to large material loss. 26...Bxh5 27.Nxe7+ Rexe7 28.Bd5

Page 7 Fall 2015

Qh6 29.Rg1 Bg6 30.Rg3 Kh8 31.Rcg1

Everyone in white’s camp has a common harmonious goal. 31...Bf5 32.Qe2 Be6 33.Qf3 Bxd5 34.Qxd5 g6 35.c5?! My opponent had only seconds left to my ten minutes. 35...dxc5 36.Bxe5+ Kg8??

36...Kh7 left black better with accurate play, but I saw the line in the main game and couldn’t resist. 37.Rxg6+ Utilizing the devastating pin. 37...Kf8 (37...Qxg6 38.Rxg6+ Kf8 39.Rg8+ Kxg8 40.Qg2+ Kf8 41.Qg7+ Ke8 42.Qg8#) 38.Rg8# 1-0 Meanwhile, when the dust settled, Preston Helms finished first in the reserve section with 2.5/4, netting 117 rating points!

I very much enjoyed being back at home with friends and family for a

tournament that has helped me accomplish many of my goals in chess.

If you enjoyed the analysis in the game above I would ask that you check out

fundamentalchesslessons.com. It is my

online teaching project that has stemmed from my work with 1200

students at Franklin Academy in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. ■

Page 8 Alabama Chess Antics

Each summer, I travel to the Castle Chess Grand Prix at Emory University to play in the Master S e c t i o n , w h e r e a b u n c h o f grandmasters—often elite GMs of U.S. chess, like Vladimir Akobian and Irina Krush—are playing. Over the years, I have managed to play five games against GMs at this tournament. However, as the title of this article suggests, thus far the experience has been very humbling: I have scored a measly 0.5 points out of five. I may be one of Alabama’s top players right now, but every year, the Castle Chess Grand Prix reminds me that I still have a long way to go if I want to hang with all the stronger masters there. (Of course, it’s all relative… I’m sure Magnus Carlsen would squash most of those grandmasters almost as easily as they can squash me. Spooky, isn’t it?)

I would like to share some of my

experiences from these games with the grandmasters. Nobody likes to lose, but more than being disappointed in my own performance, I feel impressed by the way my opponents outclassed me.

My first ever game with a GM

was as White versus Nick de Firmian—a

former U.S. Champion, and up to that point, clearly the strongest player I had ever faced.

Varagona-de Firmian, 2011. White to play.

It seems I was a bit too star-struck during this game. I stumbled my way through the opening and middlegame with no clear plan, and ended up in an uninspiring position. White has a bad bishop, but at least it has gotten somewhat active, and can be used to defend my isolated pawn if need be. I had hopes of creating a fortress if Black just kept the knight on d5, so in an attempt to complicate the play, de Firmian has just maneuvered his knight to g6 instead. This gives me an opportunity to make things interesting: 52.d5!

The Grandmasters… and me

By NM Scott Varagona

The strongest player I had

ever faced...

Page 9 Fall 2015

I want to break up Black’s pawn shield and open some roads for my queen. My dream is 52…e5? 53.Qc2, when Black is probably just lost. 52…Qc5 53.Qb2 Ne5 54.Qb7+ Kg6

55.dxe6(?)

Dang it! While this move isn’t really all that bad in itself, I missed my chance here for a clear drawing line. My opponent pointed out to me right after the game that 55.Qb8! was best, threatening Qg8 mate, and that Black probably has to accept a draw with 55...Kg7 56.Qb7+ Kg6 57.Qb8 etc. As time pressure bore down on me, I started to lose the thread of the game. 55…Qc2+ 56.Kf1? Bad again, although I’m still not yet losing. Instead, 56.Kh3! Qd1 57.f4! was best, when Black pretty much has to accept a perpetual check with …Qg4+. In time pressure, I had rejected

this line because I thought 57…Qh1+ was mate, but I forgot that the queen (far away!) on b7 actually covers the h1 square. 56…Qc4+ 57.Kf2 Qxe6 58.Qb1? Another mistake! The f3-pawn is doomed now. Correct was 58.Qb5!, which makes the defense Qe2 possible. 58…Qd5! Oops. Now the only way to defend the f-pawn is with 59.Qh1, which makes my queen 100% passive and loses. The computer recommends 59.Bf4, holding onto the g-pawn and giving White hope for a future perpetual, but defending such a position in time pressure against a GM would be essentially impossible. 59.Qh1?? Qa2+ 60.Ke3 Qc2 61.f4?? Qd3+ 62.Kf2 Ng4+ 0-1 Thank goodness the show is finally over. Incidentally, the computer found fault with some of de Firmian’s moves near the end, but he was moving quickly to run me out of time or make me blunder (and he succeeded at both). What really struck me about the end of this game was just how badly de Firmian wanted to beat me. Moving the knight away from d5 to give me the d4-d5 break was quite risky, but he was willing to dance on the razor’s edge in an effort to win. It paid off. (Of course, outplaying me in the opening and middlegame, and forcing me to

Page 10 Alabama Chess Antics

consume huge amounts of time to keep up, paid dividends later as well.) Moreover, somehow, none of the risks he took ever really put him in danger of losing. How do GMs manage such a balancing act? My next GM encounter was with Julio Becerra in 2013.

Varagona-Becerra, 2013. White to play.

Becerra just played Ra8-b8?, which was a mistake. White now has the opportunity to play 13.a5!, when he has every reason to be optimistic: the b6-knight is driven back to a potentially awkward square, Black’s pieces are being restricted, White can win back the c4-pawn, and I have increased my space advantage. Alas, I played a “mysterious” (or in this case, bad) rook move, the paranoid 13.Ra2?, and then 13…a5! came almost instantly. I blew my chance. After many more adventures, my grandmaster opponent ultimately won in my—you guessed it—

severe time trouble. The following year, Caissa finally cut me a break:

Fedorowicz-Varagona, 2014. Black to play.

I had lost a pawn in the

middlegame, but somehow I still managed to hold on. So here we were in a double rook ending. My famous opponent John Fedorowicz just played Kg1-g2 and… offered me a draw. I sat there pondering this for quite a while. When a GM offers an NM a draw, you somehow get the feeling that something is up! However, I couldn’t find anything that looked really good for Black and it just seemed too cheeky to turn down a draw offer from a GM in a position where I was a pawn down, so I said yes. Fedorowicz said after the game (in his typical, delightfully gruff voice), “I think it’s gonna be 3 to 2.” Meaning, after all the queenside pawns get wiped off the board, the resulting rook ending will have White’s three kingside pawns

Page 11 Fall 2015

versus my two. This makes a draw likely—but still, my two pawns were split, and there was no harm in him playing on with his extra pawn. If I’d been in his shoes, I would have made me prove that it was really a draw. He could have tortured me for ages and waited to see if I would choke. Well, anyway: thanks to the Fed for letting me off easy!

And my reward for drawing one

GM was… to get immediately paired with another. GM Becerra, we meet again:

Varagona-Becerra, 2014. Black to play.

Becerra entered into a line that I had prepared versus the Samisch Variation of the King’s Indian Defense. After a long sequence of moves, we have reached move 18, the end of my preparation. White has the two bishops and an extra pawn, and he is ready to castle. I had analyzed 18…Qa1+

19.Nd1!, protecting b2, and judged it to be quite favorable for White. Alas, Becerra found 18…Qa2! and essentially refuted my opening preparation over the board. He attacks b2, but now (after 19.Nd1) Black has the option of …Nc4, eliminating my two bishops advantage. White still keeps an extra pawn, but Black is so active that he has plenty of compensation. 19…Rb4 20.O-O Nc4 21.Bxc4 Qxc4 22.Nc3 Nd7! Black’s knight is headed for d3, and trust me, you don’t want Becerra’s pieces lodged deep in your territory like that. Well, no need to see the rest. Suffice it to say that I panicked, I began making nonsensical moves, and finally my position went down in flames. Argh! Okay, the last one (and the most impressive) is my 2015 game with GM Mark Paragua:

Paragua-Varagona, 2015. White to play.

Page 12 Alabama Chess Antics

Black’s pieces are awkward, but I do have the two bishops. My last few moves were meant to lead up to …e6-e5, which will open the position up for my bishops—especially the one on g7, who is currently blocked. I didn’t see how White could stop me from making my freeing pawn break. Paragua’s solution left me stunned. 21.f5!! Brilliant! At the cost of a pawn, White entombs the g7-bishop and gives his own passive e2-knight the f4 square, which will help White put pressure on my weak e6 and g6 squares. 21…gxf5 22.Nf4 Rd8 23.Kh1 Nf8 24.d5! Another (temporary) pawn sacrifice. Paragua is cranking up the pressure. I had to accept… I mean, how often do you get to be two pawns up against a GM? 24…exd5 25.Nb6 Bb7 26.Bxf5 d4?? Finally, the heat of the moment gets to be too much, and I crack. White wins with a clever little five-move combination. 27.Qb3+! Qf7 28.Ne6 Rc3 29.Nxd8 Qxb3 30.Rxb3 Rxb3

I had seen this far, and was wondering if after 31.Nxb7 Rxb6 I could hope to hold this endgame, despite my paralyzed kingside pieces. But my opponent had seen deeper and found a quiet move at the end of the line: 31.Rb1! 1-0 Shockingly, after the rooks are exchanged, my b7-bishop has no safe square! Incredible play by Paragua. It is amazing to see the difference in class between an “amateur” master like me and these experienced chess professionals. I love chess, but I don’t know if I will ever be devoted enough (or talented enough) to play on this level. That’s all right, though. I will keep on fighting to be the best of Alabama, and maybe someday I will finally get that elusive GM scalp. ■

Page 13 Fall 2015

Winter Chess

1. Black wins with 35...Qxf1+! 36.Kxf1 d2 0-1. 2. White should play 6.d5! with an edge in space. This is why, in the Petrosian Variation of the Queen’s Indian, Black usually plays

5...d5 instead. 3. White plays 29.Rxf6! 1-0. An impressive finale by Rochelle Wu against a master! 4. The solution is 53.Re8+ Kg7 (…Kh7 54.Qf5+ leads to the same result)

54.Qe5+ Kh7, and now the fastest win would be 55.Rh8+ Kg6 56.h5 mate.

1. Polk–Varagona Magic City Classic 2015

Black to Play.

(See the bottom of this page for solutions.)

Puzzles

3. Wu,R - Ardaman

2015 Southeastern FIDE Ch.

White to Play.

4. Badhe,N – Kent,T Halloween Classic 2015

White to Play.

2. Rasberry,J-Thomas,D Magic City Classic 2015

Black just played 5...Be7?!, which is

inaccurate. How can White take

advantage?

Page 14 Alabama Chess Antics

White to play and win I was toying around with the idea of making a chess composition and started trying to make one. At first I kept finding that all my attempts were flawed or had several solutions. But after awhile, with lots of help from a computer I freely admit, I finally set up a position in which has an astounding path to victory. First, try to find White's best move and calculate the amazing line that follows (until you reach a position that is a technical win). Then, because I doubt you will be able to do that, treat this as solitaire chess, where you guess a move, check that move, but keep the rest of the solution covered.

Hint: Calculate, but not too much. Focus on general ideas. Solution: 1. Bb3+ Kd7 White's first move is not such a hard move to find. White must play a forcing move or Black's queen checks will be deadly. The only other forcing move, 1. f8=N+ fails after 1...Kf7 and the only forcing move White has now is 2. Ne5+ which looks silly after 2...Kxf8. Queening the pawn with 1. f8=Q loses to the deadly skewer on the f-file after 1...Qf1+. From now on ***** will indicate that White's move is on the next line. ***** 2. Ne5+ Kc7 Again, White's move was not extremely hard. After 2. f8=N+ Ke8 3. Ne6 Qxa7 Black will easily win more material and the game. 2. f8=Q again fails to the skewer on the f-file after 2...Qaf1+. White has improved his pieces – especially the light-squared bishop which is no longer attacked – but Black's king seems to have reached a safe square. How should White proceed?

White to Play and Win By Stephen Graveling

Page 15 Fall 2015

***** 3. Nf3!! This quiet retreat is the only move that wins! The idea is to keep White's king safe from checks and thus threaten f8=Q when Black no longer has the skewer on the f-file. Black's only way to prevent the f-pawn's promotion is 3...Qh8. ***** 4. Bd5 Another quiet move, but not subtle! Now that Black's queen is no longer on the a-file the a-pawn becomes menacing. Trying to promote the f-pawn with 4. Be7 is not effective because Black can hold with 4...Q1h6+ 5. Ng5 Kb7 and now if 6. f8=Q Black can at least draw the game with 6...Q8xf8+ 7. Bxf8 Qxf8+. After 4...Q1a1 White is very close to winning one of Black's queens. Can you find one more winning move for White? ***** There are actually several correct ideas now, but if you decided on 5. a8=Q?? you fell for a trap: 5...Qae5+! and Black draws after both (a) 6. Nxe5 Qf6+ when Black simply has to give up his queen for stalemate and (b) 6. Kg4 Qe6+ 7. Bxe6 stalemate (7. Kf4 Qee5+

simply repeats). 5. a8=R doesn't work either: 5...Qae5+ 6. Kg4 Qhh5+ 7. Kh3 Qef5+ 8. Kh2 Qc2+ with perpetual. White's possible ideas are: 5. Nd4 threatening 6. Ne6+. Black will quickly run out of checks and will not be able to stop both pawns. In the end White will have three minor pieces and three pawns vs. Black's queen – a technical win. For example: 5...Qf1+ (5...Qxa7 doesn't work because after 6. Nb5+ Kb8 7. Nxa7 Kxa7 White will promote after 8. Be7) 6. Kg4 Qd1+ 7. Bf3 Qa4 8. a8=Q Qxa8 9. Bxa8 and now if Qxa8 White plays 10. f8=Q and wins. 5. a8=N+ is quite cool. Amazingly, after 5...Kb8 6. Nb6 Black will run out of checks and be unable to stop the f-pawn, after which an ending with three minor pieces and pawns vs. queen will again be reached. 5. Be7 also works, although it is similar to the 5. Nd4 line after 5. Be7 5...Qh6+ 6. Bg5 Qf8 (Qhh8 and now 7. a8=R now works or 7. Nd4 also wins) when White needs to play 7. Nd4. The only other move that is not evaluated at or below 0.00 is 5. g4, but allowing 5...Qxa7 (when it will be extremely difficult to win) is not wise. ■

Page 16 Alabama Chess Antics

Clarence Kalenian was born on September 25, 1925 in Chicago, Illinois to immigrant parents, and WWI Armenian genocide survivors Jacob & Adrine Kalenian. He graduated from Steinmetz High School of Chicago in 1943 where he was Chess team captain, and NW Park District Junior Chess Champion. He served in the US Navy during WWII as an electronics technician and was stationed in San Francisco, Hawaii & Midway. He won a checker tournament for Midway Island in 1946. He attended college at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), graduating in 1949 and was Chess Club president and IIT Chess Champion (1948-49). At IIT he was pre-law and obtained a law degree in 1951 from the University of Miami and later was a contract administrator at Philco Corp. and Conrail. His father, who had once been Chicago checker champion, instilled in him a love of chess, checkers and backgammon. Clarence went on to win many amateur chess titles, including Miami amateur champion in 1950, Florida in 1950, the Tokyo International Chess Club Champion in 1953, was twice amateur champion for Philadelphia in the 1960’s, PA in 1964, NJ in 1969, all culminating in the US Amateur Chess Championship in 1971 making the cover of the August 1971 issue of Chess Life & Review magazine. Years later he made national AP news and the front cover of the Dothan Eagle news when, at the age of 86, he took a greyhound bus from Dothan, AL to

Philadelphia, PA and tied for first in the Senior division of the 2012 World Open. He is in both the National Chess Hall of Fame and the Philadelphia Chess Hall of Fame. He was an active member of his local Dothan public library and Dothan chess clubs. He was also an avid backgammon player when living in Philadelphia, and he ran a citywide tournament with his local lodge, the Knights of Vartan. He was also an active church member. His wife, Marian Kalenian, was a decorated music teacher in Philadelphia. She passed away in 1999, and he is survived by his son, Mark Kalenian, MD, a local allergist, and his wife Mariett. ■

Remembering Clarence Kalenian By Dr. Mark Kalenian

Clarence Kalenian (right) receives a prize from TD Caesar

Lawrence (left) at the 2012 Dothan Classic. In 2015, the

Dothan Classic tournament would be renamed the Clarence

Kalenian Classic in honor of this legendary player.

Page 17 Fall 2015

The trophy winners in the Premiere and Reserve:

Scott Varagona & Jay-El Shepherd II.

(photo credit: Ruthanne Shepherd)

Varagona, Scott - Thomas, Daniel

(2284) (2139) Magic City Classic, Rd 2 (12-12-15)

All of White’s pieces aim at the

kingside; the time is right for attack!

21.f6! gxf6 22.Rxf6!

Speaking practically, White’s

invasion looks very hard to stop.

22...Ng6??

23.Rxg6+! fxg6 24.Qh8+ Kf7

25.Rf2+ Ke7 26.Bf6+ Nxf6

27.Qxf6+ Ke8 28.Qf8#

Magic City Classic Top Scorers:

Premiere Co-Champions: Scott

Varagona and Jonathan Rasberry.

Reserve Co-Champions: Jay-El

Shepherd II, Zachary Snow II and Joel

Nick Friedman. ■

Snapshots from the Magic City Classic By NM Scott Varagona

Email: Alabama.Chess.Editor

@gmail.com

Upcoming Tournaments See www.alabamachess.org for details on these and other events.

February 20-21 44th Annual Queen of Hearts Montgomery, AL

February 20 Bayside Open Daphne, AL

February 27 Tom Nard Memorial II Montgomery, AL

February 27 Bishop Bash XIV Hampton Cove, AL

March 5 Alabaster Scholastic Alabaster, AL

March 19-20 Alabama State Scholastic Chess Championships

Indian Springs Village, AL

ALABAMA

CHESS

ANTICS

Winter 2015

Alabama Chess Federation

www.alabamachess.org

President: Neil Dietsch

Vice-President: Charles A. Smith

Secretary Balagee Govindan

Treasurer: Bradley Denton

Scholastic VP: Gerald Larson

Antics Editor: Scott Varagona

Webmaster: Jared Collins

Public Relations: Michael Ciamarra

Member Admin: Josh McClellan

Tourn. Reports: Caesar Lawrence

ACF OFFICERS

Please contact

president@alabamachess.org

if you are interested in helping with the

Alabama Chess Federation.

To submit articles, pictures and

games to the Antics, email the

Antics editor at

Alabama.Chess.Editor@gmail.com

Games in .pgn format are

strongly preferred.

The Alabama Chess Federation (ACF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit

corporation and the United States Chess Federation affiliate for the

state of Alabama. Our goal is to promote chess in this area for the

benefit of all Alabama players. Toward that end, we provide advertising

and other assistance for rated tournaments, as well as support for

scholastic chess programs around the state.

All chess diagrams in this issue were produced

using Fritz, a program by ChessBase.