The February / March calendar has now been posted to the Calendar tab.

A tenacious win against the odds from Robert Green was not enough to rescue a point for Shrewsbury C as they lost to runaway Shropshire Online Chess League division two leaders Telford A. Green fought back from a piece down to secure an unlikely triumph against Richard Thompson on bottom board, writes Peter Kitchen. That levelled the scores after captain Richard Vernon had earlier lost to Stefan Tennant on board two. But Tony Purser lost the decider on top board against Roger Brown to consign the heavily-outgraded C team to a 2-1 defeat. After an unorthodox opening on board two, Vernon built up a strong pawn centre against Tennant’s hypermodern…

A battling display saw Shrewsbury A claim a creditable 2.5-2.5 draw against reigning Shropshire Chess League champions Maddocks A – ending their opponents’ 100 per cent start to the season in the process. A fine win for Stephen Priestley on his first appearance of the season and a hard-fought victory for Francis Best on top board looked like it might be enough to claim a shock triumph, writes Peter Kitchen. But despite being an exchange up in his game against Tony Preece, Dan Lockett eventually lost the deciding match on board three in a complicated position as both clocks ran low. It was still a fine night’s work for Shrewsbury,…

Stephen Priestley’s win against Steve Tarr in the home match against Maddocks A was crucial in holding them to a draw. Stephen has annotated his game here, which can also be accessed through the “Interesting Games” tab.

Ivor Salter produced the shock of a night as Shrewsbury B once again held the club’s A team to a draw in division one of Shropshire Online Chess League. Salter made up a 250-point grading difference to shock Peter Kitchen with the black pieces on board three. With the top two boards finishing as draws, it was enough to ensure the B team drew with their supposedly-superior colleagues for the second time this season. Once again, it was the B’s who might have pinched the victory, as Dan Lockett was fortunate to defeat Richard Vernon on bottom board. The result did little to help either side’s cause, with the A…

Shrewsbury’s highest-rated player Nathanael Paul was the top county finisher at Shropshire Chess Congress. Nathanael finished the tournament in seventh place in the Open category with 3/5, winning both of his games with the white pieces and drawing two and losing one – to eventual winner FM Jonathan Blackburn – with black, writes Peter Kitchen. He only finished below international master John Cox on tie break, and made sure he bettered his eighth place seeding by drawing with fifth seed Jim Burnett (rated 2158 ECF) in the final round. His game with Blackburn was also broadcast on the live boards arranged by the organisers for the top two boards for…

Three Shrewsbury Chess Club members will be among those chasing trophies and prize money at this weekend’s Shropshire Chess Congress. The club’s top board Nathanael Paul, A team captain Francis Best and Ivor Salter have all confirmed their entry to the tournament, which will take place at Wrekin Housing Trust’s headquarters from tonight (Friday) until Sunday, writes Peter Kitchen. Some 146 players from across the country had entered across the competition’s four sections at the time of writing, with cash prizes available in all categories. Barring any late entries, Paul will be the eighth seed in a field of 24 in the top Open section. While competition will be fierce,…

The calendar tab has been updated to reflect January and February 2023. Happy New Year!