Dec-29-04
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| Benzol: Arcadios Feneridis
Born in Russia he was joint New Zealand champion in 1956-57. |
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Sep-27-06
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| Jonathan Sarfati: Fenny dominated Wellington chess for two decades, and was winning tournaments even in his 70s, and playing a fair game of lightning even in his 90s. He is now 98. The current selection of games does not do him justice. While it includes his win over Sarapu, the latter's first ever loss in a NZ champs, it doesn't include his 3-0 record against the great Murray Chandler, a convincing victory over the young prodigy Rodney Phillips when they tied in the NZ Champs (when Phillips became the youngest champ ever), and his overwhelming victory over Sarapu in a 10-game correspondence match. |
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Sep-27-06
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| Benzol: <Jonathan> I didn't realize he was still alive. If you have access to the games you mentioned in your post they can be uploaded into the database via the PGN Upload Utility facility. |
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Jan-28-07
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| Benzol: A note posted on the <Richard Taylor> forum by FM Dr Jonathan Sarfati. <Jonathan Sarfati: Sad to say, I've been informed that Fenny died this month aged 99. A number of people from the Wellington Chess Club attended his funeral, apparently. There will be an obituary in New Zealand Chess.> Although he was a good age this is very sad news for New Zealand chess.
My condolences to his family and friends. |
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Feb-12-07
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| Jonathan Sarfati: RIP Fenny 1908-2007. He was completely dominant in Wellington chess from the mid 1950s to early 70s, but was playing strongly well into the 1980s. His given name was the Russianized form Arkadii, but like many Russian names, they come from the Greek via the Eastern Orthodox Church. I'll post a few annotated games here (thanks to Peter Stuart who supplied them) with draft annotations with a view to publishing in an obituary in New Zealand Chess. |
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Feb-12-07
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| Jonathan Sarfati: Feneridis,A - Phillips,J [E61]
New Zealand Chp (64th) Wellington, 1957
[J Sarfati]
This is the game between the two winners. This Championship is famous because Rodney Phillips set an age record of 14.5 years, which has still to be beaten. But in this game, he is outclassed by Fenny's constriction strategy. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d6 5.Bg5 0-0 [5...h6 put the question to the B] 6.Qd2 c5 7.d5 Re8 [A modern player would probably play 7...b5 8.Nxb5 Ne4] 8.e4 Nfd7 9.Be2 Na6 10.h4 h5 11.Bh6 Ne5 (Why play ...Re8 and not follow up with ...Bh8?) 12.Nxe5 dxe5 13.0-0-0 Qb6 Black must use his b-pawn as a battering ram, not block it. 14.f3 f5 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 White's space advantage is more important than good v bad B considerations 16.g4 fxg4 17.fxg4 Bxg4 18.Bxg4 hxg4 19.Qh2 Rf8 [19...Qd6 20.Nb5 Qb8 21.Rdf1± according to the late J.D. Steele, a strong player and auditor for the Wellington Chess Club for many years, but 21 h5 would finish Black off.] 20.Rdf1! Rf3 [20...Rxf1+ 21.Rxf1 Rf8 22.Qxe5+ Kg8 23.Rxf8+ Kxf8 24.Qh8+ Kf7 25.e5  Steele;
20...Qd6 21.Nb5 Qb8 22.h5 with a winning attack]
21.Qxe5+ Kg8 22.h5 Nb4 23.Rxf3 gxf3 24.Kd2 Rf8 25.hxg6 Qf6 26.Qxf6 Rxf6 27.a3 Na6 28.Rf1 Nb8 29.e5! White's central pawns split Black's forces 29...Rxg6 30.e6 Rg2+ 31.Kd3 Kf8 [31...Rxb2 32.Rxf3 Rg2 33.d6 exd6 (33...Nc6 34.dxe7 Nxe7 35.Nd5 Rg7 36.Nf6+) 34.e7] 32.Rxf3+ Ke8 33.Rh3 Rg8 34.Ne4 b6 35.Rh7 Kd8 36.b4 cxb4 37.axb4 Na6 38.Kc3 Nc7 39.Kd4 Na6 40.d6 Re8 Now it is a case of pushing Black off the board.
41.b5 Nb8 42.Kd5 a6 43.Ng5 axb5 44.cxb5 Rg8 45.Rh8 Rxh8 46.Nf7+ Ke8 47.Nxh8 exd6 48.Kxd6 Kd8 49.Nf7+ Ke8 50.Ne5 Kd8 51.Nc6+ 1-0 |
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Feb-12-07
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| Jonathan Sarfati: Jonathan Sarfati: Aptekar,L - Feneridis,A [A45]
Wellington QB Weekend Open Wellington, 06.1979
[J. Sarfati]
Fenny was black against the top seed and tournament leader in the last round. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 c5 3.Bxf6 exf6 I don't like this recapture, because it weakens control of d5, cf. Karpov vs Browne, 1972 4.e3? [4.c3] 4...Qb6! 5.b3 Now White will miss his dark-squared B 5...Nc6 6.Nf3 d5 7.Be2 Be6 8.0-0 g6 Not sure of the point of this. 9.Nc3 It is worth noting that when a piece occupies a square, it no longer controls it. So this move makes the dark Q-side squares weak. 9...cxd4 10.Nxd4 Nxd4 11.exd4 Rc8 12.Na4 Qa5 13.Bf3 b5 14.Nb2 [14.Nc5 gives up a pawn, but Black's extra pawn would be doubled and he would need to give up the unopposed dark-squared B] 14...Qc3 15.Qd3 White is already reduced to desperate expedients 15...Qxd3 [15...Qxb2 16.Qxb5+ Kd8 17.Bxd5 Qxc2 should not be enough for White, but Black plays more safely] 16.Nxd3 Bd6 17.a4 [White's best chance was still 17.Nc5 because later on, he has to jettison material without any alleviation of Black's pressure] 17...b4 18.g3 a5 19.Ra2 Kd7 20.Ne1 passive defence is just waiting for the guillotine blade to fall, and Fenny was very much up to the task of pulling the final lever 20...Rc3 21.Bd1 Bb8 22.Kg2 Ba7 23.Nf3 Rhc8 24.Ng1 Bf5 25.Ne2 R3c6 26.Nf4 Kd6 27.Bf3 Be6 28.Rc1 g5 29.Nd3 Bxd4 now the pawn fell and Black kept his mighty B 30.Ne1 Bc3 31.Kf1 Bd2 32.Rd1 Bxe1 33.Kxe1 Rxc2 34.Rxc2 Rxc2 35.Rd3 Kc5 36.Bd1 Rb2 37.Rd2 Rb1 38.Ke2 Rc1 39.Rc2+ Rxc2+ 40.Bxc2 h6 41.Ke3 g4 Although there is a rule of thumb in same coloured B endings to put your pawns on the opposite colour to your B, there are times when putting them on the same colour restricts the enemy B. In this position, it also pins down the remaining White pawns, setting up a zugzwang 42.Bd1 h5 43.Bc2 Bc8 44.Bd3 Bb7 45.Be2 d4+ 46.Kd2 Bd5 47.Bd1 Be4 48.Be2 Kd6 49.Bd1 d3 see, the White B is out of moves. 50.Ke3 Ke5 51.f3 gxf3 52.h3 f5
In this tournament, I as the youngest player, had the privilege of tying with Fenny, the oldest, with 4/5. His achievement was greater, because he beat the top seed to whom I had lost earlier. 0-1 |
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Feb-13-07
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| Jonathan Sarfati: Court,R - Feneridis,A [A45]
New Zealand Chp (67th) Dunedin (7), 1960
[J. Sarfati]
This was an unusual slugfest, against a player Roger A Court who won the title in 1965 and known for his imagination. But here Fenny gives up a pawn for good compensation, then outplays his opponent in a good tactical battle. 1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 d5 3.Bd3 c5 4.c3 e6 5.Nd2 Nbd7 6.f4 cxd4?! best not to make this exchange in the Stonewall without good reason, because it eases White's cramp and allows him to support e5 with a half-open file. 7.exd4 Bd6 8.Ndf3 Ne4!? 9.Bxe4 dxe4 10.Ng5 f5 11.Nxe6 Qe7 12.Ng5 Nf6 13.Ne2 Bd7 14.Qb3 b5 15.Qd1 Well, that achieved a lot. 15...Ng4 16.0-0? Nxh2 17.Ng3 Ng4 18.N3xe4? rather desperate, but there are still some tricks left. 18...fxe4 19.Nxe4 0-0 20.Nxd6 Qh4! the mundane 20...Qxd6 would win as well with the extra piece 21.Rf3 Qh2+ [21...Rae8 was quicker -- often it is best to confine the enemy king before checking.] 22.Kf1 Qh1+ 23.Ke2 Rae8+! 24.Nxe8
[24.Kd2 Qxg2+ 25.Kd3 Rf6 and if 26.Nxe8 Bf5#;
24.Be3 Qxg2+ 25.Kd3 Rxe3+ 26.Rxe3 Nf2+ winning the Q] 24...Rxe8+ 25.Be3 Qxg2+ 26.Ke1 Rxe3+ 27.Rxe3 Qf2# 0-1 |
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Feb-13-07
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| Jonathan Sarfati: Jonathan Sarfati: Feneridis,A - Sarapu,O [E46]
Correspondence match, 1960
[J. Sarfati]
Fenny was very skilled at correspondence chess. In this match with the great Sarapu, Fenny won something like 8-2. In NZ Championship OTB, Sarapu scored +6-1=3. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 This was one of Fenny's own favorite defences as Black. 4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 d5 6.a3 Be7 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Ng3 c5 9.Bd3 Nc6 10.0-0 cxd4 11.exd4 g6 12.b4 Bg4 13.f3 Be6 14.Be3 Nd7 15.Na4 f5 16.Ne2 Bf6 17.Bb5 Rc8 18.Nc5 Nxc5 19.Bxc6 Rxc6 20.dxc5! A very well judged exchange sac, which was far less common at that time. 20...Bxa1 21.Qxa1 Bc8 [21...d4 was better, because this pawn was now just dead weight, blocking in the B.] 22.Nd4 Ra6 23.Nb5 Rf7 [23...f4 Making some room for the B] 24.Nd6 Rxd6 probably forced sooner or later. But Black's dark squares remain very weak. 25.cxd6 Qxd6 26.Bc5 Qc7 27.Rc1 b6 28.Bf2 Qb8 29.Qd4 Bb7 30.Be1 h6 31.Bc3 Now White has the right arrangement, and Black is tied up. It's worth comparing with Steinitz vs Lasker, 1896 31.. Kh7 32.Re1 Qf8 33.h4 Rc7 34.Bb2 Bc6 35.Re6 Ba4?! 36.Qe5 Rf7 37.Qg3 Qg8 38.h5 [38...g5 39 Qd6 Qf8 40 Qxf8 Rxf8 41 Re7+ ] 1-0 |
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Feb-13-07
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| Jonathan Sarfati: One game Fenny showed me as a kid is K Honfi vs Gipslis, 1964 |
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Mar-06-07
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| Benzol: According to an old NZ Chess Magazine this was one of 'Fennie's Favourites' Siff vs Kashdan, 1948 |
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Apr-13-07
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| Jonathan Sarfati: You get the impression that Fenny liked the Nimzo? ;) |
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Jul-08-08
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| Jonathan Sarfati: The obituary I wrote for Fenny was published in New Zealand Chess, Dec 2007. They generously allowed four pages, fitting for such a leading player. But for some reason, they omitted the author's name! |
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Jul-08-08
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| Benzol: <Jonathan> That was a nice obituary. I only read it a few days ago and that was after getting the following edition of NZ Chess Magazine!?.
It says he was born on December 25th 1908 old calender. What date does this translate to on the new one?
Bit of an oversight to not mention the author of article. Hope you register a complaint to the editor. :) |
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Jul-08-08
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| Jonathan Sarfati: Thanks <Benzol>. His lifespan was 07/01/1908 - 03/01/2007, new calendar. The mag is under new editorship, so this should be rectified. Apparently his family have ordered several copies of the issue. |
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Jan-07-09
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| Benzol: Pity he didn't quite make the century. |
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