It’s a squad game for Edwards as B team win second game in a row

There’s not many teams in Shropshire that could handle having to make three changes in a five-board team and remain competitive.

But that’s exactly what Shrewsbury B did for their midweek trip to face Telford C – and it didn’t do them any harm, writes Peter Kitchen.

The Bs returned back down the A5 with the points courtesy of a convincing 4.5-0.5 win, and the team’s second successive win has them handily placed in second place in Shropshire Chess League division two. They are the only team with a 100 per cent winning record, and have a game in hand on leaders Oswestry B.

It has led captain David Edwards – one of those to drop out of the side following the opening 3.5-1.5 triumph over Maddocks B – to hail his team’s strength in depth, which he said boded well for the long season ahead.

Shane Greenwood, Patrick Fitch and David Walton were the trio to come into the side in place of Olusegun Ilesanmi and Ian Davies, while Edwards rested himself owing to his return from a trip away on the day of the match.

The match got off to a flyer for the visitors before they even arrived at Dawley Royal British Legion for the match – the hosts were unable to field a full team and had to default bottom board.

That meant the luckless Walton – who was a non-playing reserve for the A team the previous week away to Oswestry A – was redirected to the club night at Cromwell’s while the Bs started the match 1-0 up.

Captain-for-the-night Mark Smith drew his game with Andy Jones on top board pretty swiftly. Smith, by his own admission, failed to find the sharpest continuation in the opening (a Sicilian Rossolimo) and Jones secured a level position before the players agreed a truce.

“Andy made no mistakes, so I got nothing in a rather dry position. There was a forcing drawing continuation which I could have deviated from, but the resultant position looked rather risky to me and the computer concurs.

“I might have risked it in other circumstances, but things already seemed to be going our way so I took the half point.”

But that was as good as it got for the hosts as the Bs cleaned up on the remaining boards.

Greenwood defended stoutly after Tim Skidmore sacrificed a pawn in the Evans Gambit and then an exchange, before the Shrewsbury man made his extra material count on board two.

On board three, Fitch got a big advantage out of the opening that resulted in him winning a piece against Steve Szwajkun. A further error from the Telford skipper led to resignation.

Ivor Salter found himself in a tough game against Erin Pichanick on board four. Pichanick won a pawn with a good position, but fell behind on the clock and Salter was able to drum up counterplay on the queenside and turned the position around to win.

While Shrewsbury B are up with the early season pacesetters, Telford C remain at the foot of the table after three straight defeats.

Edwards admitted the situation has left him with something of a selection poser ahead of the top-of-the-table clash with Oswestry B on November 16 – but that it was a nice problem to have, even if it may have consequences for him further down the line.

“As captain, it’s great that we have a strong pool of players to choose from,” he said. “But on a personal note, it might be concerning that the strongest available team going forward may not include me!

“Thanks also to Mark for captaining the team on the night.”

Full scores (Shrewsbury colours in brackets):

Telford C 0.5-4.5 Shrewsbury B

1.Andy Jones 0.5-0.5 Mark Smith (w)

2.Tim Skidmore 0-1 Shane Greenwood (b)

3.Steve Szwajkun 0-1 Patrick Fitch (w)

4.Erin Pichanick 0-1 Ivor Salter (b)

5.default 0-1 David Walton (w)

Average ratings – Telford C: 1392 ECF; Shrewsbury B: 1659 ECF.

(With thank to Mark Smith for additional details from the match)