A Point Away for B Team

Shrewsbury B picked up a point away to Telford B to move up to third in the Shropshire Chess second division after a tense finale having recovered from 2-0 down.

With captain Matt Best able to field a full team for the visitors, the welcome return of Windsor Peck provided the hosts with a stronger line-up than in recent weeks to match up. Indeed, things were looking a little worrying for Shrewsbury when Daniel Lockett and Norman O’Connor failed to arrive at the start of the match, eventually arriving – after Sat-nav issues – at around 8 o’clock. When they eventually did arrive the pair wasted no time in restoring parity on their clocks, aided by the sporting decision of Telford skipper Stefan Tennant not to start the clocks immediately, with Daniel’s blitz-like play in the opening in fact hauling him in front on the clock early on.

However, despite the relief of all 5 players turning up and the time disadvantage being eaten away, things took a turn for the worse when both Mark Smith and Ivor Salter fell on the bottom two boards. Firstly, Mark’s game against Jason Kenderdine – in which he had found himself under the cosh throughout as Black in a Sicilian – was concluded when Jason’s two rooks penetrated Mark’s King position, with heavy material losses set to follow had he not resigned. Shortly after, Ivor also fell. After coming out of the opening a Pawn down with minimal compensation against Roger Brown, Ivor traded off Queens, Rooks and a couple of minor pieces with the idea of heading into a drawn opposite-coloured Bishops ending. Roger, however, had other ideas and kept a pair of Knights on the board, winning a second Pawn and firming up his advantage by pushing his passed Pawns and forcing Ivor onto the defensive. It didn’t take long for Roger to assemble a completely won position, and Ivor duly surrendered.

However, the fightback started there for Shrewsbury. Daniel, still yet to lose a game all season for both the A and B teams, was involved in a wild game with Stefan on board two. Stefan, pondering ways in which to liven up a fairly blocked-up position, took a quick look at the state of the other games before deciding to make things interesting by sacrificing a piece for a Pawn. The result was that Daniel’s King was a little more exposed, and he was left with a Bishop on e3 that was, to all intents and purposes, an overgrown Pawn – at least in the short term. However, after fighting hard to secure several simplifications and fend off Stefan’s Kingside attack, Daniel was left a clear piece up and, with his Bishop finally liberated, fleeing its Pawn-made bonds with glee, he secured the win the half the deficit.

The comeback job was then completed when Matt Best inflicted Simon Maydew’s first defeat in 16 games, albeit in slightly fortuitous circumstances. In their third meeting of the season (the preceding two had both been drawn), Matt opted for an unusual line against Simon’s Scandinavian which led to a commanding Bishop pair and lead in development, but with a danger of his Pawns being overextended and without any particular safe place for his King. He was able to simplify down to a position with level material, but a Bishop in return for the Knight (which explains why he won [WARNING: this joke may only be applicable to members of Shrewsbury Chess Club]) and with a Queenside Pawn majority. Matt was able to convert his Queenside majority into a lone passed Pawn, which gave him a technically won ending. However, with Queens and a pair of Rooks still on the board; Matt’s vulnerable King and both players falling fairly short of time (Matt had an advantage of around ten minutes on the clock), the position was rife with complications. A few frantic moves later, and the computer evaluation suggests the advantage lay with Simon – although personally I think it was drawn at that stage, computers often get endings wrong – before swinging back the other way. Eventually, however, Matt managed to hide his King from Simon’s checks for a move or two, leading to Simon running out of time and Matt swindling the win to haul his team back level.

That meant that everything depended on the final game to finish between Norman and Windsor on board 3. In a Knight ending, Norman looked to have a slight edge in a likely draw due to his King position, but was a couple of minutes down on the clock. In arguably the slowest blitz finish in history, in which both players actually thought about their moves rather than bashing out anything legal, terms of treaty were agreed and a draw confirmed, leading to another draw between the two sides – although slightly tenser than the previous stalemate earlier this season – which gave both captains a much-needed point in a year when all three divisions remain scarcely believably tight.

Shrewsbury B 2½-2½ Telford B

• M. Best 1-0 S. Maydew
• D. Lockett 1-0 S. Tennant
• N. O’Connor ½-½ W. Peck
• M. Smith 0-1 J. Kenderdine
• I. Salter 0-1 R. Brown