Champions squeak home as As lose first chapter of Newport double-header
Shrewsbury A can take comfort from pushing champions-elect Newport A all the way – but face a “tough” relegation battle next up against Newport Junior A.
That’s the verdict of captain Dan Lockett, who saw his side fall just short against a Newport A side that has swept all before them so far this season and now stands on the brink of mathematically wrapping up the Shropshire Chess League division one title, writes Peter Kitchen.
Ultimately, the 3-2 home defeat has left Shrewsbury still rooted to the bottom of the division one table – with nearest rivals Darwinian Knights A and Newport Junior A having a game in hand against each other.
It’s set to be a quick turnaround as they travel to face Newport Junior A on Tuesday in a crunch relegation clash just six days after taking on Newport A.
The As lost the reverse fixture against Newport Junior A 4-1 in November – and Lockett was under no illusions of the size of the task against a team of rapidly-improving youngsters.
“This week will be tough,” he said. “They (Newport Junior A) have got a strong and settled top three or four who are all still improving – whereas you could say some of us are going the other way!”
One of those juniors ultimately sealed the points for Newport A at Cromwell’s on Wednesday. Krish Thimmegowda defeated Olusegun Ilesanmi on board two in the final game to finish, making it at least the third time this season Shrewsbury have lost a deciding board with the scores 2-2.
The match could have gone either way with the scores locked at 1.5-1.5 – while Ilesanmi was clearly struggling against Thimmegowda, Peter Kitchen appeared to have a clear edge on top board against the higher-rated Chris Lewis.
But after the tactics cleared, the under-the-cosh Lewis managed to scramble into an ending only one pawn down – and as Kitchen started to slip short of time a couple of inaccuracies cost him much of his advantage.
Lewis offered a draw on move 32 with Kitchen down to his last few minutes, and unable to see a positive way forward, Kitchen reluctantly took it after much agonising and the match had swung decisively Newport’s way.
Earlier, Mark Smith went down in flames on board four. Faced with the prospect of trying to hold a clearly worse position a full pawn down, he gambled on an active continuation against Ian Jamieson – and was checkmated in the middle of the board on move 20.
Stephen Priestley held a difficult position to draw with David Lord on board three, before Lockett equalised with a good win over Danny Griffiths on bottom board. He crucially managed to convert queenside pressure into a material advantage by winning Griffiths’ two central pawns, and despite missing a couple of opportunities to win further material he saw it home convincingly.
The captain’s appearance on board five – dropping down three boards from the previous match against Telford A – completed an unusual set for him. It meant he had played on every board for the A team during the current season.
It meant a third 3-2 defeat of the season for Shrewsbury, despite fielding possibly their strongest side of the season with Ilesanmi and Priestley returning on boards two and three and B team regulars David Edwards and Ivor Salter dropping out.
“Against a team that hadn’t dropped a point so far this season, I wasn’t expecting a win – but at least it was close,” said Lockett. “It helped to get Ile and Stephen back in the side as work has prevented them – and Shane Greenwood – from playing more matches.
“I moved myself down the order as I felt everyone else was playing better at the moment, but it was good to get it over the line.
“Mark faced the choice of going into an endgame a pawn down or trying something aggressive. Although it was ultimately unsuccessful, I was glad he tried the aggressive option as the alternative was a slow grind down and I think against stronger players sometimes you have to take the chance.
“The game on top board did look drawn at the end, but personally I might have played on until I saw how Ile’s ended on board two – it is the conflict in what is basically a series of individual games being played for a team.”
Full scores (Shrewsbury colours in brackets):
Shrewsbury A 2-3 Newport A
1.Peter Kitchen (b) 0.5-0.5 Chris Lewis
2.Olusegun Ilesanmi (w) 0-1 Krish Thimmegowda
3.Stephen Priestley (b) 0.5-0.5 David Lord
4.Mark Smith (w) 0-1 Ian Jamieson
5.Dan Lockett (b) 1-0 Danny Griffiths
Average ratings: Shrewsbury A 1768 ECF; Newport A 1834 ECF