Shrewsbury chess club enjoyed an excellent week on all quarters, as all three teams recorded victories to move closer to their respective goals for the season. Ian Davies’ C Team polished off a depleted Shifnal and Telford D 3.5-0.5 away from home, moving them top of the table, although second-placed Oswestry A (the C Team’s next opponents) do have a game in hand. Both Fred Harris and Eric Inglis were awarded wins by default, and Ian Davies saw off Brian Malone to make sure of the win. A tight game on top board between Brian Malone and Andrew Lewis finished drawn, leaving the visitors top by the narrowest of margins,…

Shrewsbury B’s crucial relegation decider against Shifnal and Telford C ended in defeat for Matt Best’s side. Without Ivor Salter, and with both usual substitutes (Francis Rooney and Ian Davies) unavailable, Matt opted to call upon the services of Andrew Lewis and Fred Harris to play on boards 4 and 5. A win on the night would have ensured survival for the hosts, but things got off to a bad start when top board Mark Smith lost to Richard Szwajkun – playing, remarkably, a 28th game of his league season and picking up his 18th point – after some slight misjudgments led to a lost endgame for Mark. The next game to…

Shrewsbury C’s promotion bid was kept on track with a 2-2 draw at home to fellow promotion chasers Newport D thanks to some spectacular attacking play from captain Ian Davies. The match got off to a bad start when junior Lewis Clarke ended Fred Harris’ 100% record in the league with some excellent endgame play in a position which had previously looked level or possibly even slightly in Fred’s favour. Eric Inglis was able to continue his outstanding season with a highly creditable win over Steve Cooper on board three. Having (as Black) managed to get a pawn up on e3, he restricted Steve’s position and eventually built up enough…

Shrewsbury B and C both recorded victories this week to help them in their battles against relegation and for promotion respectively. Ian Davies’ C team were away to Newport C – a tricky fixture – and were without regular board 4 Tony Purser. In stepped Fred Harris, and he did his bit by recording an impressive win against Malcolm Price, maintaining his 100% record for the season (albeit from 2 games!). Although Andrew Lewis was unable to hold off the attack of in-form Jonathan Newey on top board, Ian’s win on two and Eric’s draw on three with Sellick Davies (which, incidentally, stretches his unbeaten run to 8 games this…

Shrewsbury A travelled to Church Stretton (well, Condover actually, but I’m sure you get what I mean) on Tuesday night for their first division match. It was a game unusual in the sense that Best-Rooney appeared twice on the match scorecard – the young upstarts on two and their sons doing battle on board 5. It was, however, a game devoid of any Bests or Rooneys that started the scoring off. Jamie Hopkins continued his unbeaten season when he agreed a, erm, “brief” draw on top board with Trevor Brotherton, and the result from that opening  game was then matched on board 5; the first of the two family clashes…

Shrewsbury B just missed out on a positive result after some enthralling games saw Newport B see off Matt Best’s side 3.5-1.5. Shrewsbury were without Norman O’Connor, whose steady performances and return of 50% have been invaluable so far this season, so Matt opted to call upon C Team pair Ian Davies and Andrew Lewis to play on boards 4 and 5. The match got off on a positive footing, when the top board match between Mark Smith and Danny Griffiths finished with a somewhat quick draw. Meanwhile, on board 2, Ivor Salter’s habitual Scandinavian was replied to by Chris Lewis with 2…e5 – not a regular response. The game…

Shrewsbury B’s visit to Priorslee Lions B, initially due to be played before Christmas but postponed due to player shortages, has been re-arranged so that it will now be played on Monday the 4th March. A date for the postponed clash with Ludlow has still not been fixed.

Shrewsbury A’s hopes of a third-placed finish were boosted significantly with a win over Shifnal and Telford A; the team presently sitting third in the table. With skipper Jamie Hopkins feeling unwell and Dan Lockett also unavailable, the B Team duo of Matt Best and Mark Smith were called into action to provide cover against an opposing side also short of key players. It was however, an A Team regular who made the initial breakthrough. Peter Kitchen, playing his last game this season after having recently become a father, was facing the experienced Windsor Peck on board three. Peter came through the opening with a pretty strong position, won a…

Controller Matt Best has published the draw for the third round of the club championship. To see the draw, please visit the club championship page of the website.

Shrewsbury C ensured that at the halfway stage of the third division season, their promotion hopes were kept on track with a victory over Oswestry B. Going into the game, Ian Davies’ side were in 4th place on 6 points, 6, 5 and 4 points off the trailblazing trio of Oswestry A, Wellington B and Newport D respectively, albeit with a game in hand. It was, therefore, imperative that they made the most of said extra game in order to ensure the gap between themselves and second didn’t become untenable. Things started off solidly with Andrew Lewis agreeing a quick draw on top board against Steve Tulett. It looked a…