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…

If you want to check dates of club nights and events, there is now a calendar tab which gives you access to calendar dates for the forthcoming couple of months. The aim is to add a new month on as each month expires. Let Francis know if you want any dates adding.

Nathanael Paul was the star player of the night as Shrewsbury A got their Shropshire Rapidplay Chess League division one campaign off to a solid start. Paul won all three of his games on board one – including the notable scalps of the county’s top and third rated rapidplay players in Newport’s Nick Rutter and Maddocks’ Athar Ansari with the black pieces. There were plenty of positives as the team picked up one win and suffered two narrow defeats on the opening night of the rapidplay league season at Telford Chess Club. Captain Francis Best finished the night on 50 per cent on board two, while there was a welcome…

An under-strength Shrewsbury A side produced a gutsy performance to claim a 2.5-2.5 draw against county town rivals Telepost A in the first derby of the season. Despite benefitting from a bottom board default, the hosts were outgraded on all four remaining boards of the Shropshire Chess League division one match, writes Peter Kitchen. But they claimed draws on three of them to earn a valuable point. Stand-in captain Dan Lockett made sure of the draw by holding a difficult position against David Hodge on board three. With Shrewsbury without two of the three highest-graded players, this will be seen as a valuable point. It leaves Shrewsbury undefeated from their…

Shrewsbury A and B shared the points in their opening Shropshire Online Chess League match of the season – and the B’s could count themselves unfortunate not to win. Despite Nat Paul defeating B team captain Mark Smith on top board, A team skipper Francis Best was upset by Stephen Priestley on board two. When Ivor Salter made it into an endgame a solid pawn up against Peter Kitchen on board three, the B’s – promoted as champions of online division two last season – looked on for a stunning upset. But despite his chronic shortage of time, Kitchen used his two bishops to create problems and ask questions. The…

Team captains at Shrewsbury Chess Club are facing a challenge – as they attempt to fill squads for five match nights in the space of nine days. Competitive fixtures in Shropshire’s over-the-board, rapidplay and online leagues have been lined up for the club’s teams – and with a smaller pool of players to pick from filling those teams will be no mean feat. It will represent a hectic start to the new season after months of inactivity over the extended summer break. The run of matches will start on Monday night with an intra-club derby between Shrewsbury A and Shrewsbury B in Shropshire Online Chess League division one – while…