A Win and a Loss – but Condover/Stretton Pay the Price as Things Look Up

It seems to have been a regular occurrence this season that when two Shrewsbury teams both play on the same night, only one of them comes away with a positive result. This proved to be the case yet again on Friday as the A and C Teams were both in action.

The A team – who, fortunately, had already secured their first division safety with a 4-1 win over Priorslee Lions B to end a run of 5 straight defeats – were at home to Telford A, fighting for their lives and requiring to draw or win the match to stay up. There was a slight technical hitch as the live boards struggled to spring into life early on, but around 15 minutes after kick-off this was rectified, and the second ever live broadcast match was up and running.

It was next door, though, that things got interesting first. Ian Davies’ C Team were hosting Condover and Church Stretton B – the club whose A Team would be relegated should Telford stay up – and required a win to ensure promotion by virtue of finishing second, whereas a draw or defeat would see their opponents promoted.

Without the distraction of the live boards, this match began on time. The visitors were without the in-form Francis Rooney – a boost to Shrewsbury hopes – and his usual position on board 2 was filled by Tom Williamson. His game against Andrew Lewis finished at a similar time to the top board truce between Charles Micallef and Ian; Andrew winning a piece early on and converting the advantage in the endgame despite Tom managing to find counter chances.

That meant that one point from two boards was needed for promotion. Although things were looking acceptable on board 4 between Fred Harris and John Casewell, with the Shrewsbury man up a Pawn, Tony Purser looked dead and buried against Shane Sweeney on board 3. Shane had won an exchange early on and had a massive advantage on the clock to boot. Just as things looked to be going downhill there, though, Fred won a piece on board 4 after John was unable to recapture due to the threat of a back-rank mate. However, in keeping with the rollercoaster sensation, Fred promptly gave it back when John moved his King to cover the mate threats and Fred overlooked the fact that John could now recapture the Bishop.

There were still twists left in the tale, though. Tony managed to fashion counterplay on 3 as he forced two connected passed Pawns down the Queenside, where Shane only had his Rook to try and prevent their advances. However, supported by Tony’s Bishop, the Pawns made their way onto the sixth rank (as a basic rule of thumb, a Rook alone can’t stop two connected Pawns on the sixth rank – one of them will promote) and Tony forced one over the line. With just a minute and a half left, though, it looked potentially problematic to convert with Shane having over 20 minutes left on his clock as well as a Rook and three Pawns still on the board. Tony, though, calmly converted the advantage with some excellent blitz play, holding his nerve more than I would have done as he won the Rook via a sequence of checks (I would have swapped the Queen for the Rook, gobbled the Pawns and know I had at least a draw – but doing so loses valuable time to win) and forced the King into the corner. There was a worrying moment when he overlooked a mate on b8 with his Queen supported by the Bishop on 2 occasions, as he concentrated on bringing his King across to support the mate. In the end though, it proved but a mere delay – the method was still completely sound – and the match, and therefore promotion, was wrapped up. Fred gladly seized the opportunity to agree a draw with John, meaning a nice gloss was added to the scoreline.

A bad night for Condover & Stretton then got even worse as Telford sealed a narrow win to condemn their A team to relegation. On top board, Francis Best pushed too hard for attacking chances against Dave Gostelow, leaving his Pawn structure in tatters and eventually costing him a fatal material deficit. On board three, David Everington was a Pawn up and had blown open John Footner’s Kingside. However, David was worried about his own defences and offered an early draw, which John happily accepted.

The pressure was then put on the remaining three boards for Shrewsbury to fight back. However, they fell just short. On board 5, Mark Smith was another victim of overpressing in a safe position against Windsor Peck, trying too hard for a win and ultimately paying the price. Ed Goodwin and Nazif Nazif agreed a draw on board 2 – Nazif seemed to have had a slight edge and spatial advantage for most of the game, but with their safety now ensured, playing on in a tight position was fairly futile. There was, at least, some consolation for Shrewsbury as Peter Kitchen recorded a creditable victory over Richard Thompson on board 4. After throwing his h-Pawn forward and offering a piece sacrifice, Peter arrived at a winning ending, although he was short on time. Although Richard made it tricky by winning the exchange, Peter’s passed Pawn (pending promotion) proved pivotal (check that alliteration!).

So congratulations to Shrewsbury C and Telford A, commiserations to Condover and Church Stretton. It is likely that we will struggle to field three teams next season, barring a sudden influx of players (if you want to join us, now is the time!), so Condover/Stretton B may end up promoted anyway!