Peter Kitchen writes. They gave it their best shot – but Shrewsbury’s first teamers couldn’t stop Telepost A from gaining derby day revenge, battling gamely before falling to a 4-1 defeat. Chasing a unique quadruple in the county town’s “El Chessico”, Shrewsbury pushed their full-strength hosts hard on four of the boards. Dan Lockett provided Shrewsbury’s highlight of the evening, beating John Bashall with the black pieces on board four to draw the score level at 1-1 with plenty of play left in the other games. But Telepost then showed their class to grind out victories on the top three boards, leaving Shrewsbury rooted to the foot of the Shropshire…

An eye-catching victory over runaway Shropshire Chess League leaders, Maddocks A, was the highlight for Shrewsbury as the club hosted the first rapidplay league meeting of the season. The home side won a tight match 2.5-1.5 thanks won wins for Dan Lockett and Mark Smith and Peter Kitchen’s draw with Adrian Zdanowski. In total, the club fielded seven players across two four-board matches, including a welcome return for father and son James and Harvey Birch. Shrewsbury were awarded a 4-0 walkover in the opening round as Telepost failed to field a team, before beating Maddocks A in round two and slipping to a 2.5-1.5 defeat to Maddocks B in round…

The chess equivalent of T20 cricket will come to town when Shrewsbury Chess Club hosts the first round of this season’s Shropshire Rapidplay League tonight (Friday). Shrewsbury will play two Maddocks teams and one Telepost team at Nerdy Café – with all of the four-board matches being played under much quicker time controls than standard league chess. Players will either have a straight 20 minutes to play all of their moves, or if captains agree 10 minutes thinking time with 10 seconds increment per move. While this is slow compared to some online time controls, it is much quicker than the standard league format – all moves in one hour…

Peter Kitchen writes. The top two seeds in Shrewsbury Chess Club Championship have been drawn to face each other in a potentially pivotal tie. Tournament leader and defending champion Francis Best will defend his 100 per cent record in this year’s competition with the black pieces against Peter Kitchen. Both players achieved significant victories in round two. Best ground down Dan Lockett with the white pieces in a positional struggle, while Kitchen came out in top in a more open, tactical affair as black against third seed Mark Smith. Games between the pair are usually tight affairs – and strangely all but one of their competitive encounters spanning more than…

Shrewsbury B returned to the summit of Shropshire Online Chess League division two after a tense, nervy victory over fellow promotion contenders Telford A. The player with the white pieces won on all three boards, meaning the B’s scraped home 2-1 to move back above Oswestry C and restore their two-point lead at the top of the table. Ivor Salter won the critical game on bottom board, defeating Richard Thompson in an opposite coloured bishops endgame despite having been on the back foot for much of the game. The experienced Thompson had previously missed opportunities to press home his advantage in a complex ending both with the queens on and…

Peter Kitchen writes. Shrewsbury A enjoyed their most emphatic win of the season with a 4-0 online town derby triumph over Telepost A. On a night when Shrewsbury Town FC enjoyed their biggest win of the season – a 5-0 League One win over Morecambe – the town’s namesake chess team also showed no mercy to their admittedly under-strength opponents to complete a welcome online league double over their rivals. Tuesday’s convincing victory was a fine way for the A’s to finish their Shropshire Online Chess League division one campaign – and has also given them a chance of finishing second in the table. They will finish runners up if…

Peter Kitchen writes. Shrewsbury’s first team players face two potentially season-defining matches against local rivals Telepost – starting on Tuesday night. The first fixture will see Shrewsbury A aim for an online league double over Telepost A, who despite being reigning online champions have endured a difficult season and are currently three points adrift at the bottom of the online division one table. It will be Shrewsbury’s final online league fixture of the season, and they need just a point to mathematically ensure they cannot finish bottom. They still harbour hopes of a second place finish, but need to win and hope Oswestry B drop points. It comes ahead of…

Peter Kitchen writes. Peter Kitchen and Mark Smith were the victors as Shrewsbury came from behind twice to rescue a point against Oswestry. On a historic night for Shrewsbury as they hosted their first Shropshire Chess League match at their new Nerdy Café home, Oswestry threatened to spoil the party as new signing Rudy van Kemenade beat Francis Best on top board. Smith made light of turning up half an hour late to impressively defeat Oswestry captain Charles Lowick Higgie on board three, only for James Joynson to put the visitors back in front by defeating over-the-board debutant Richard Vernon on board three. After Dan Lockett and Gary Slegg drew…

The big day is almost here – Shrewsbury Chess Club will host its first league match at its new venue on Friday. Oswestry A will be the first competitive visitors to the Nerdy Café for a Shropshire Chess League division one match that could have major repercussions in the battle to stay in the top flight. Shrewsbury are currently bottom of the table having not played since the league was temporarily suspended in December, while Oswestry have been in freefall since Christmas – losing both matches while fielding weakened teams. Oswestry have taken steps to remedy that by this week registering 2000-rated player Rudy van Kemenade, though it is not…

Peter Kitchen writes. Defeats on the top two boards proved costly as Shrewsbury A were edged out 2.5-1.5 by Oswestry A in Shropshire Online Chess League division one. Both Francis Best and Peter Kitchen came unstuck early in the middlegame, succumbing to defeats against International Master Paul Littlewood and Charles Lowick Higgie respectively. It meant Dan Lockett’s battling win with the black pieces against Peter Fisher was in vain. Mark Smith and Peter Lovatt had earlier agreed a quiet draw on board three. The result leaves Shrewsbury likely to finish third in the four-team division one table, now trailing their victors by two points and having an inferior goal difference.…