A point on the board – but A team still waiting for first win
Shrewsbury A picked up their first point of the season – but are still waiting for their opening win of the campaign after being held to a draw by county town rivals Darwinian Knights A.
In a first derby against the newly-formed club, Shrewsbury edged ahead after three draws when Stephen Priestley defeated James Holyhead on board three.
But captain Dan Lockett was beaten by Kate Walker on board two in the final game to finish, leaving the scores tied and Shrewsbury still bottom of the Shropshire Chess League division one table, writes Peter Kitchen.
It marks a frustrating run of three games without a win for Shrewsbury A – although they were competitive in narrow defeats against Telepost A and Maddocks A who are both already some way clear of the pack.
The Halloween trip to fellow strugglers Oswestry A – a first return for Lowick Higgie to the club he left in the summer – will be something of a yardstick for where Shrewsbury are, although the need to get points on the board quickly and consistently is clear.
The home side made two enforced changes for Darwinian’s visit to Cromwell’s Tap House – skipper Lockett and Smith came in for their first league appearances of the season in place of unavailable pair Jamie Hopkins and Peter Kitchen. This meant Lowick Higgie moving up to top board, with Lockett slotting into the side on board two and Smith on bottom board.
Although this was the first official league meeting between the two sides, the Darwinian team strongly resembled the notional Telepost C side that inflicted a 3-2 defeat on Shrewsbury in their first league fixture at Cromwell’s back in June. The visitors were unchanged from their 1.5-3.5 home defeat against Oswestry A in their previous fixture, with Matthew Clark taking his spot on board one on his birthday.
The first game to finish was on board four, where Olusegun Ilesanmi drew quickly with fast-improving junior Rudi Bedford with the white pieces. The youngster had made a strong start to life in division one with two wins from his first three matches – and on this occasion two players who like to attack appeared to cancel each other out.
Second to finish was the game on top board, where Higgie drew with black against league president Clark. The game was a Boleslavsky Sicilian, and despite a tense battle lasting for two hours, both players had made just 15 moves when the draw was agreed, with computer analysis giving Clark’s white army perhaps a slight edge.
A third ceasefire was agreed on bottom board, although Smith felt he had been fortunate as his opponent Nathan Jeukens missed a clear opportunity to seize the advantage.
The deadlock was finally broken by Stephen Priestley, who defeated James Holyhead with the black pieces on board three. That’s now two wins from three matches for Stephen, whose achievement was all the more impressive on this occasion as he had been moved up two boards for this match.
But hopes of a first win of the season evaporated on board two. Lockett found himself under attack from Kate Walker, and after getting his move order in a muddle ultimately went down to defeat. But frustratingly, he later found that Walker’s attack had been unsound and that had he beaten it off he could have won a clear piece.
Full scores (Shrewsbury colours in brackets):
Shrewsbury A 2.5-2.5 Darwinian Knights A
1. Charles Lowick Higgie (b) 0.5-0.5 Matthew Clark
2. Dan Lockett (w) 0-1 Kate Walker
3. Stephen Priestley (b) 1-0 James Holyhead
4. Olusegun Ilesanmi (w) 0.5-0.5 Rudi Bedford
5. Mark Smith (b) 0.5-0.5 Nathan Jeukens