It’s a while since Shrewsbury’s A team has been in danger of relegation but this season’s shortage of players, coupled with a few results going the wrong way, meant that the A team had to win against Priorslee Lions B on Monday in order to be safe.  Although on paper the Shrewsbury team was favourite, Priorslee can punch above their weight and Francis Best’s team was not going to take anything for granted. Indeed, with only three of the core players available, regular reserves Norman O’Connor and Ian Davies were standing in on boards 4 and 5.  Certainly this season, the reserves from other teams have been invaluable in fielding…

Shrewsbury A’s drop from Christmas table-toppers to battling relegation continued as Francis Best’s side suffered a sixth consecutive defeat at the hands of the season’s surprise package Wellington A. The visitors, who have benefitted from excellent form from their top three boards to propel them to title contention so far this season, have been boosted by the timely arrival of former Church Stretton star Tiago Faustino for their crucial final two fixtures, although this was, at least, partly counteracted by Shrewsbury being boosted by the availability of Ed Goodwin on board two. There were several wild openings on show, with Tiago’s choice to deploy an aggressive Bird’s set-up against David Everington…

Shrewsbury’s B and C teams both inched closer to their season’s targets with hard fought victories within a day of each other. Both opposition teams had their parallels, too, with Telepost C (against whom the B team played) and Newport Juniors both rooted to the bottom of their divisions having lost all their games so far this season. However, despite this, and the fact that they enjoyed a considerable grading advantage on all boards, Matt Best’s B team were made to work very hard for the victory. Things started badly as Ivor Salter went wrong in the opening against Shane Sweeney on board 5. After losing a Rook in return…

Shrewsbury’s A team were at Newport on Monday 3rd March, seeking to break a losing streak and trying to ensure they were clear from the relegation zone of division 1.  This was always going to be a tall order, as Newport remain, on paper at least, the strongest side in Shropshire’s league, despite not having always dominated this season. To add to the challenge, Shrewsbury had to call upon two reserves in the shape of Norman O’Connor and Andrew Lewis.  To be fair, recent results from A team reserves have been very creditable and the B and C team players thus called upon have certainly tended to punch above their…

Controller Matt Best has published the draw for the fourth round of this year’s Club Championship. The cross table is below, and the pairings are available on the Club Championship page of the site. The deadline for games to be played in this round is Friday 25th April.

Shrewsbury B took a massive step towards securing survival with a narrow victory over town rivals Telepost B in the latest installment of the Shrewsbury vs Telepost fixture run, after two matches last week involving the county town’s two teams. Without Mark Smith available, Andrew Lewis was drafted in by captain Matt Best to fill the team on board 5. Noted for his impressive drawing capacities, Andrew managed a win last week, one which extended his personal unbeaten league run to 17 matches (with a couple of draws for Shropshire under 140s thrown in, too). However, his creditable run was ended by Telepost’s Quentin Mills on Friday – more on…

Shrewsbury’s A and C teams were both in action on Friday, hosting Telepost’s A and D teams respectively. For the A Team, their visitors were handed the opportunity to seize top spot in the first division, with the added incentive of achieving a second consecutive league double over their town rivals. Captain Francis Best was dealt a blow as regular Peter Kitchen was unable to make it, but the availability of Ed Goodwin helped cover the gap, with B team duo Mark Smith and Norman O’Connor completing the line up. Things seemed to be going fairly well for Shrewsbury early on despite being outgraded on all 5 boards by a…

In the third round of this year’s club championship, David Everington and Francis Best clashed in the same variation of a game they had played nine years previously.  Francis reflects on the contrasting outcomes of these games here.

Shrewsbury B’s hopes of promotion from the second division were dealt a blow last night, as captain Matt Best was left wondering quite how his side managed to slip to defeat away to a strong Oswestry A side. Shrewsbury claimed a narrow victory in the reverse fixture, but the hosts were bolstered by the subsequent addition of one of the county’s strongest players, Richard Bryant, on top board and so outgraded their visitors on each of the top 4 boards. It was the sole board on which Shrewsbury held the grading edge which finished first. On board 5, Andrew Lewis – standing in for Mark Smith – was up against…

Andy Lewis is enjoying a fabulous unbeaten run at the moment and is hoping to complete the whole season without loss.  This is not always easy, as his game against Andy Jones in the recent match against Telepost C demonstrates.  Having a near resignable position for much of the game, Andy Lewis battled on, keeping the game alive, and was rewarded with his opponent agreeing a draw, having run the clock down to 55 seconds.  You can play through the game here.