Shrewsbury A endured a difficult night on the road, picking up just one point from three Shropshire Rapidplay Chess League division fixtures at Newport. Missing regular top board Nathanael Paul through illness, Shrewsbury were no match for the division’s high fliers Maddocks A and Newport A – and were fortunate to escape from their match with bottom-of-the-table Maddocks B with a draw, writes Peter Kitchen. It means Francis Best’s side have picked up just three points from six rapidplay league matches this month – with no wins in any of them – and now look set to finish a distant fourth in the six-team division. Shrewsbury took a four-man squad…

A solid night’s work saw Shrewsbury A pick up two hard-fought draws and slip to a narrow defeat in the latest round of Shropshire Rapidplay Chess League division one fixtures. Francis Best’s side held Newport A to an impressive draw in the opening round before being perhaps fortunate to escape with a share of the spoils against Telford A. They then pushed the night’s hosts Telepost A hard before slipping to a 2.5-1.5 defeat, writes Peter Kitchen. Shrewsbury now lie fourth in the six-team division with eight points from their nine games, and will look to pick up more points when they travel to Newport for the next round of…

Shrewsbury Chess Club is delighted to announce that our top board Nathanael Paul has officially become Shropshire’s highest-rated player. Nathanael’s ECF rating has risen 21 points to stand at 2138 in the April list. It comes after a month that saw him score 4.5/5 in competitive matchers – including a pivotal win over the county’s number two player Nigel Ferrington to clinch a derby win over Telepost A. Nathanael’s rating has risen above the county’s long-time top two Nick Rutter and Ferrington, meaning he has reached the top spot for the first time in his career. It marks the latest step in a chess-playing career that started about 20 years…

Shrewsbury C agonisingly missed out on runners-up spot in Shropshire Online Chess League after a frustrating defeat in their final fixture. Richard Vernon’s side lost 2-1 to Oswestry C to see their impressive four-match unbeaten run come to an end – and then saw rivals Newport A leapfrog them with a surprise 3-0 win over champions Telford A, writes Peter Kitchen. The C team could yet finish bottom of the pile if Oswestry pick up a point against Telford in the division’s final fixture on April 11 – a fate that would be extremely harsh on the team after recovering from a poor start to rise up the four-team table.…

Shrewsbury A eased to their biggest Shropshire Chess League win of the season to consolidate their position in the top three of the division one table. The club’s first team defeated struggling Telepost B 4.5-0.5 to put more pressure on the top two Maddocks A and Newport A, writes Peter Kitchen. It also marked a second successful visit to Abbey Foregate in the past couple of weeks, coming hot on the heels of the dramatic 3-2 win in the big derby against Telepost A last time out. Shrewsbury are now just a point adrift of second placed Newport with three games to go, although leaders Maddocks have a four-point cushion…

Norman O’Connor rolled back the years with a stunning demolition of Telford’s top player Mark Keady – but it wasn’t enough to stop the Dawley-based side from clinching the Shropshire Online Chess League division two crown. O’Connor defeated his bamboozled opponent in just 19 moves – a truly outstanding achievement considering Norman was outrated by 300 points. Shrewsbury needed to win to stand any chance of halting Telford A’s march to the title – but could only manage a 1.5-1.5 draw. The match finished in frankly unbelievable circumstances, when Telford’s Roger Brown – two queens up – missed a mate on one on move 73 and instead stalemated Tony Purser’s…

Shrewsbury A produced their finest performance of the season to come from behind and beat Telepost A in the county town derby – leapfrogging their arch-rivals in the table in the process. Captain Francis Best and Nathanael Paul turned last week’s match around with victories against Phil Zabrocki and Nigel Ferrington on the final two boards to finish after Fred Bench had given the hosts the lead by beating Richard Vernon on bottom board, writes Peter Kitchen. Ivor Salter had earlier tenaciously saved a losing position against John Bashall on board four to keep Shrewsbury in the hunt. The result – secured despite the team missing three players and being…

Round 3 pairings of the club championship have now been posted. See the pairings on the club championship tab. Three players currently share the lead on 100%: Nat Paul, Dan Lockett and Francis Best.

Stephen Priestley and Nathanael Paul slugged it out for 122 moves in a gripping encounter in a dramatic night of action in Shrewsbury Chess Club Championship. Priestley sacrificed first a pawn then an exchange in a bold bid to force a decisive result against the club’s highest rated player, writes Peter Kitchen. But Paul was relentless in his pursuit of victory in the ensuing ending, eventually breaking his opponent’s resistance after nearly two-and-a-half hours play – almost unheard of with shorter online time controls. The game was one of three intriguing online encounters played on Friday night to meet the deadline for round two fixtures, with all three watched by…

Shrewsbury A missed out on a first league double of the season – but picked up another useful point with a draw against Oswestry A. Francis Best’s side came from behind to lead their struggling visitors in their recent Shropshire Chess League division one clash at the Nerdy Café, writes Peter Kitchen. But Ivor Salter was beaten by Gary Slegg on bottom board in the final game to finish to ensure the spoils were shared. It means Shrewsbury will go into Monday night’s mouthwatering “El Chessico” county town derby with Telepost A with just one defeat from their seven league matches and comfortably placed in fourth in the seven-team division,…