Shrewsbury A are top of the charts at Christmas – in Shropshire Rapidplay League at least. Francis Best’s side won two out of three fixtures at the latest evening of rapidplay league matches at Telepost on Monday night, writes Peter Kitchen. The results took Shrewsbury to the top of the division one table on game points scored ahead of Telepost A and Newport A. But the A’s are not involved in the next two rapidplay league nights and will be overhauled by other teams with games in hand. Nathanael Paul was the top performer on the night with 2/3 on top board, including extracting an unlikely win over Steve Tarr…

Tony Purser has made the draw for this year’s club championship and the website page has been updated to reflect this. Club members will also have received an email from Tony containing contact details for each player. There is the usual half point incentive to complete games on time. Good luck and enjoy the games!

Lightning struck twice as a Shrewsbury side suffered a second 3-1 online defat to Oswestry B in the space of a week. This time it was Shrewsbury A who were no match for their opposition from up the A5, just eight days after Shrewsbury B suffered an identical fate in a Shropshire Online Chess League division one match, writes Peter Kitchen. Only a fine piece of endgame play from Francis Best to turn around an inferior rook ending against Rudy van Kemenade spared the A’s the embarrassment of a whitewash as their conquerors swept to the top of the table at Christmas. It was the A team’s first online league…

Shrewsbury A were condemned to their first Shropshire Chess League division one defeat of the season, going down 3.5-1.5 at Newport A. The visitors, missing two first team regulars, fought valiantly against their full strength hosts and the first three games to finish all ended in hard fought draws, writes Peter Kitchen. But defeats for Francis Best on board two and debutant Robert Green on bottom board in the remaining two games proved the difference between the sides. The match was also available to be followed live on the internet, as Newport tested their live boards ahead of their use at the upcoming Shropshire Chess Congress. Although traditionally not a…

Shrewsbury B slipped to another defeat in division one of Shropshire Online Chess League – this time at the hands of Oswestry B. Captain Mark Smith was outgunned by a spectacular attack by Rudy van Kemenade on board two, and Ivor Salter was ground down by Peter Fisher in a long ending in 74 moves on bottom board, writes Peter Kitchen. Shrewsbury’s only joy came with the black pieces. Nathanael Paul drew with Charles Lowick Higgie on top board and Stephen Priestley shared the spoils with Peter Lovatt on board three. In both of these games the Shrewsbury player was a pawn down in an ending but in a technically…

Tony Purser unbelievably fought back from losing his queen to win the deciding game and give Shrewsbury C their first Shropshire Online League division two victory of the season. Purser’s heroics helped the C team defeat Newport A 2-1 to hand Richard Vernon his first victory as the side’s captain, writes Peter Kitchen. But there was despair for Shrewsbury B in division one as they narrowly lost 2.5-1.5 to rivals Telepost A. Defeats for Nathanael Paul and Mark Smith proved their undoing, and Smith’s side is still searching for a first win of the campaign. Purser, playing on board two for the C team, looked down and out when he…

Shrewsbury A led twice but were pegged back each time and ultimately forced to settle for a 2.5-2.5 draw against Telepost B. Peter Kitchen and Mark Smith each put Shrewsbury ahead with the white pieces in the Shropshire Chess League division one match at the Nerdy Café. But Dan Lockett lost a wild game against James Holyhead on bottom board, and in the deciding game Nathanael Paul agonisingly lost on time to Dan Hilditch-Love in a complicated ending on top board, writes Peter Kitchen. Despite the initial disappointment at not quite getting over the line, Shrewsbury remain unbeaten in the league three games into the season – a vast improvement…

A professional performance saw Shrewsbury A clinch victory over town rivals Telepost A to pick up their first Shropshire Online Chess League division one triumph of the season. Shrewsbury went into the rearranged game as heavy favourites on gradings over an experimental Telepost side, writes Peter Kitchen. But despite a rating advantage of at least 300 points on every board, they were made to work hard by their spirited opponents before eventually securing a narrow 2.5-1.5 victory. Dan Lockett gave Shrewsbury the lead with a swift win in just 22 moves with the black pieces against Martin Ayres on bottom board. But Nathanael Paul suffered an off night to lose…

A new WhatsApp group and online calendar are among the fresh initiatives unveiled by Shrewsbury Chess Club to help members. All members are welcome to join the WhatsApp group, which will be used to help improve communication between players. A number of players have already signed up, and discussions have included interesting positions in matches, availability of players for matches and the fortunes of members in the county’s individual competitions. It is not intended for WhatsApp to replace emails between captains and players, but it is hoped the group will provide a less formal setting for members to chat and discuss club and chess-related topics. Meanwhile, the club’s webmaster Francis…

An agonising defeat for captain Richard Vernon saw Shrewsbury C slip to an unfortunate 2-1 defeat in their Shropshire Online Chess League division two clash with Oswestry C. Vernon had enjoyed the better of his board three encounter with Al Grocott-James, which was the final game to finish with the match balanced at 1-1, writes Peter Kitchen. But a fatal slip saw  Vernon’s defences breached for the only decisive score of the match. The result leaves the C’s still searching for their first points of the season following an opening day loss to the division’s title favourites Telford A. Earlier, the top board encounter between Norman O’Connor and Steve Tulett…