After our defeat against Telepost, Shrewsbury A team appeared firmly rooted to the bottom of the table.  However, we were clearly in with a chance of making amends when we faced fellow respite-from-relegation-seekers, Telford A.  Having won the away fixture earlier in the season, we knew we could beat them.  Furthermore, we had the services of Matt Best – just as well, as our B team was up against Church Stretton (see Ian Davies’ write up of that match below), so we might have struggled to field a full team, otherwise. In my game, I faced David Gostelow’s habitual London System.  I missed a neat tactic by David, which netted…

Ian Davies, B Team Captain, reports: “The natural order of things is beginning to unravel in Division 2 as the B team suffered its first loss of the campaign to the very strong and clear favourites for the title, Church Stretton A. We went crashing to a 5-0 defeat to the South Shropshire giants but not without putting  up a fair bit of resistance on the way.  I was the first one to lose, but it could have been so different after my opponent, Karl Wakefield, played a very passive Caro Cann, then blundered a pawn and gave me every opportunity to start a strong attack.  However, lack of conviction…

The B team remains the only unbeaten side in Division 2 after this week’s round of matches.  “Yes, but for how long?” I hear the cry from the South Shropshire Hills, as next up are the ultra strong Church Stretton A.  For those of a footballing disposition let’s hope we can “Do a Bradford,” so to speak, or I am being unduly pessimistic? But a point against them would be a great result. A creditable draw against a strong Telepost B was achieved this week, with all 5 boards drawing their matches, a pretty rare occurrence, I believe.  Mark continued his unbeaten run on board 1, after facing the Nadjorf…

Next up came our fixture against Newport A.  Having won the home fixture, albeit narrowly, it stands to reason that Newport would be out for revenge, but at least we knew we could in theory win the match.  Alas, it was not to be. Matters started amusingly in that boards 2,3 and 5 all started with the Scandinavian.  After a few quips about mirroring moves on boards 2 and 3, in order to guarantee a score of 50%, the positions duly diverged pretty early on.  Peter has described his game against Chris Lewis: “For this game I owe the team an apology: due to a very busy couple of days…

Having been a bit short of time to update the website in respect of A team matches, I thought I would catch up before our next match, the fixture against Telepost A on Friday 6th February.   Thanks to other players who have contributed comments. First, my game against Richard Croot from our Ludlow match before Christmas is now included in the “Interesting Games” page.  You will probably have seen the sad news regarding the death of Ludlow player, Alan Wright, and Ludlow have now withdrawn from the league.  This means that we are now at the bottom of the league at the time of writing.  See the earlier post for…

Your illustrious B team went top of division 2 on Friday 16th January. A 3½-1½ victory over a much weakened Priorslee Lions B team meant we hit the New Year running, in our quest for promotion, although the match itself wasn’t as straightforward as it might appear.  Priorslee defaulted on bottom board and were missing their three top players, but as the match unfolded, they very nearly pulled off a shock draw. I gave an object lesson on how NOT to play the King’s Gambit against the inexperienced, but rapidly improving and talented Tommy Gilmour.  After he declined the pawn, I then tied myself up in knots completely and Tommy…

While I was busy self-destructing against Peter Kitchen in the club championship (round 2) at the club last Friday, Ian Davies and Norman O’Connor were doing battle in the same event. Norman essayed the Benko gambit, which blew Ian’s opening preparation out of the water. For much of the game, chances were balanced and Norman had the opportunity to gain an advantage at at least one point. However, at a crucial juncture, Norman moved to defensive mode instead of pressing for a counter attack. Ian’s mating threats against the Black King proved too strong and Norman resigned after 38 moves.  It is often said that the winner of a chess…

Shrewsbury A took a step closer to Division 1 safety as an emphatic dispatching of struggling Ludlow ensured Francis Best’s side will spend Christmas in the top half of the table. Boosted by the availability of son Matt – back for Christmas from his university studies at Exeter – Francis was also able to call upon his regular trio of Dan Lockett, David Everington and Peter Kitchen, meaning his side held a grading advantage over their hosts (who had lost all their preceding fixtures this season) on three of the five boards. However, Ludlow still possess a useful side and after a lengthy trip in the driving rain, there was…

Ian Davies, B Team Captain, writes, “The B team have had a superb first half in this season’s Division 2 campaign and are the only unbeaten team in the whole division after our draw against Wellington B on December 10.  We also remain in second place.  We are, nevertheless, under no illusion about how difficult it will be to remain there going into the second half in the New Year.  There are some very strong teams on the pitch and we haven’t played the strongest one yet, so it will be very tough. But as long as we remain focused, keep our eye on the ball and take our chances…

Ian Davies, B Team Captain, reports: “Your illustrious B team climbed into second place in division 2 after it secured a 3½-1½ victory over Telford C on 28th Nov. Mark Smith continued his superb form after a win on top board.  Playing black in a Queen Pawn opening in which White obtained a slight advantage but then went wrong, Mark showed all his experience by winning a King and Pawn end game.  I then made it 2-0 after winning on board 4 against newcomer Rae Roberts.  After I made a right mess of the opening, when my opponent could have simply won a pawn, I couldn’t believe my luck when he…