Fixtures come thick and fast as C team look to build on maiden win
Shrewsbury C this week had two opportunities in the space of 24 hours to build on their first Shropshire Chess League division three victory of the season.
The Cs travelled to face bottom-of-the-table Newport Junior C on Tuesday (November 18) before hosting a local derby against Darwinian Knights D the following night, writes Peter Kitchen.
It is the second time in the space of a few weeks that the C team has unusually been asked to play two nights running – but captain Ben Howells is looking forward to the challenge.
Last time out saw the C team defeat Newport Knights 2.5-1.5 to pick up their first points since the team was reformed in the summer. And they are hopeful of picking up more points against the juniors of Newport and a Darwinian side currently in midtable with one win, one draw and one loss from their three games.
Howells said the current glut of fixtures represented an opportunity to give as many members of the squad as possible the chance to play competitive games.
The C team squad is made up of relatively new members to the club, many of whom are getting their first ever taste of competitive chess. The team’s aim is purely to give as many people as possible experience in a competitive environment, which Howells said his players had certainly risen to so far.
He said: “With the double game week, this is where we can utilise as many of our players as possible, and we are hoping many of them will play this week. It’s a testament to how dedicated our team has been so far this year.”
Against a Newport Knights side featuring a mix of junior and adult players, things got off to a difficult start for the hosts as Nick Nuthall was defeated by Hriday Patel.
Richard Beard then missed an opportunity to win as he drew a technically winning endgame against George Lough on bottom board.
But the home side turned the match around thanks to victories for skipper Howells against Ryan Acton on board three and for Orlando Bell on board two versus Arthur Wright.
“As a team we played excellently and it’s great to see us getting some points on the board,” said Howells. “We have some very strong players in the C team and I can see us really kicking on now.”
Full scores (Shrewsbury colours in brackets):
Shrewsbury C 2.5-1.5 Newport Knights
1.Nick Nuthall (b) 0-1 Hriday Patel
2.Orlando Bell (w) 1-0 Arthur Wright
3. Dafydd Howells (b) 1-0 Ryan Acton
4. Richard Beard (w) 0.5-0.5 George Lough