In the late 1970s I co-wrote a weekly chess column in the Sunday edition of the Bluefield Daily Telegraph with Mr. Anthony Slamecka. Mr. Slamecka, (Tony), had emigrated to the USA from Europe taking a position as a civil engineer with the WV highways dept. He was a very strong player and a close friend of  the well known German Grandmaster Friedrich Sämisch. I spent many enjoyable nights at Tony's house playing chess with him. Below are links to scans of the columns we wrote.

• chess column 001
• chess column 002
• chess column 003
• chess column 004
• chess column 005
• chess column 006
• chess column 007
• chess column 008
• chess column 009
• chess column 010
• chess column 011
• chess column 012
• chess column 013
• chess column 014
• chess column 015
• chess column 016
• chess column 017
• chess column 018
• chess column 019

My chess nemesis (and close personal friend) was Dr. Bernard P. Kiernan. Bernie was professor emeritus of History, Concord University. In addition to teaching me about chess, history and literature, Bernie also taught me how to play tennis. I enjoyed many wonderful games of chess and tennis with him over the years.