Home comforts needed after opening-day humbling
Shrewsbury B will go into this week’s home game against Church Stretton A looking to recover from their humbling opening defeat at Oswestry B.
The newly-promoted seconds had made the journey up the A5 to face one of the previous campaign’s strugglers with relatively high hopes on the back of winning the Shropshire Chess League division three title last season. But their opening encounter at the higher level brought them crashing back down to earth as they returned on the end of a 5-0 loss, writes Peter Kitchen.
Stretton will roll into Cromwell’s on Wednesday (October 15) with a fair degree of confidence themselves. They drew their opening division two fixture against one of the league’s fancied sides Darwinian Knights B, and only missed out on a top two spot last season by two points.
They also possess considerable strength at the top of the order, so the hosts will need to be at their best to compete.
Vice-captain David Edwards said the Oswestry defeat had been a tough night for all concerned, but that they were looking forward to pitting their wits against Church Stretton.
He said: “We came up against a very strong Oswestry side, but it was a good experience for all of us. We’ve got Church Stretton next and there may be the odd change to the line-up so we’ll see how it goes.”
There was a sense of intrigue when the teamsheets were revealed at Oswestry – the hosts, who finished bottom of division two last season, named a team containing some unfamiliar names.
But they proved to be an experienced and capable side, and ultimately had too much for Richard Vernon’s side.
Shrewsbury gave a full competitive over-the board debut for the club’s new C team captain Ben Howells, while Fred Bennett was also named in the side on board four.
Howells was first to wave the white flag. Having made an attacking knight move early in the game against former Telepost player Josh Cockburn, he then missed a pin to his queen that cost him material, and despite a brave fight he couldn’t claw it back.
Bennett then slipped to defeat against Sam Fowkes on board four, before Edwards fell victim to a fork in a balanced position against Joe Muxlow on board two.
Edwards (black) said, “all was going well until I decided that the double bishops
pointing in my direction were
an issue best sorted. I played
Bh6 with a eye on my e pawn
and check. My opponent played
Qg4+, which won the game as
there was no way to defend the check and my rook and bishop.”
Ivor Salter lost a pawn in the early middlegame against Peter Fisher on top board and his attempts to fight back by getting a rook to the seventh rank proved fruitless as it became trapped and was lost. Captain Vernon, moved up the order to board three, lost a pawn against Paul Sadler and also could not recover.
Full scores (Shrewsbury scores in brackets):
Oswestry B 5-0 Shrewsbury B
1.Peter Fisher 1-0 Ivor Salter (w)
2.Joe Muxlow 1-0 David Edwards (b)
3.Paul Sadler 1-0 Richard Vernon (w)
4.Sam Fowkes 1-0 Fred Bennett (b)
5.Josh Cockburn 1-0 Dafydd Howells (w)
Average ratings – Oswestry B: 1648 ECF, Shrewsbury B: 1510 ECF