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…

Shrewsbury’s A and B teams face a rare derby clash to start this season’s Shropshire Online Chess League division one campaign. The club’s top two sides will do battle on Monday (November 7) following the B team’s promotion as runaway division two champions last season, with the A’s as the nominated “home” team, writes Peter Kitchen. Shrewsbury C will also compete in division two once again this season, and were this week starting with a tough-looking assignment against Telford A. Division one will have five teams this season, including defending champions Oswestry A, Oswestry B and Telepost A. Shrewsbury A, who finished second last season, will follow the club derby…

Shrewsbury A made a flying start to their Shropshire Chess League campaign division one campaign with an impressive 3.5-1.5 win away to Oswestry A. Debutant Nathanael Paul won on top board, and he was backed up by captain Francis Best and Dan Lockett, who both triumphed with the black pieces, writes Peter Kitchen. The result was particularly sweet for Shrewsbury as the club’s first team gained revenge for a 5-0 whitewash defeat in the corresponding fixture last season. Shrewsbury A had in fact lost on their last four league visits to the border town club. It marks a great start to the new league season as Best’s side aims to…

Two of the club’s players have reached a four-way playoff to decide the 2022 champion of Shrewsbury – and one of them is already guaranteed a piece of silverware. Dan Lockett and Stephen Priestley both finished on 4/5 in this summer’s competition and are among four of the 20-strong field to share first place. Priestley’s performance has already secured him the honour of being named the tournament’s under 1700 champion. But despite both players exceeding expectations, the pair will be underdogs against strong opposition from Telepost in the playoffs to decide the overall champion. Both have been drawn with the black pieces – Priestley will face tournament top seed Nigel…

Donations are being invited to help fund Shrewsbury Chess Club’s new David Everington Memorial Trophy. Members will have the chance to contribute to the new trophy, with any shortfall being made up out of club funds, writes Peter Kitchen. The trophy will then be awarded to the club’s player of the season – as decided by a secret ballot of members at the end of the season. The new trophy and the criteria for how it will be awarded were among the items discussed at the club’s annual general meeting on Friday night. David was a hugely popular member of Shrewsbury Chess Club for more than 50 years, during which…