Shrewsbury Chess Club enjoyed/endured an impressive array of results with its three teams recording a win, draw and loss between them in the final round of fixtures. Shrewsbury A ensured they top the tree at Christmas, whereas the B Team’s position more closely resembles a present (yes, I mean near the bottom. Just go with my weak extended metaphor) – probably hand-knitted socks – after a disappointing result away to Ludlow combined with surprising results elsewhere that leave them precariously perched above the drop zone, despite a deceptively high placement in 4th. The C Team, meanwhile, recorded yet another draw to keep their promotion hopes plodding along. For the A…

Matt Best’s B Team suffered a blow to their hopes of promotion from the second division with a frustrating 3-2 defeat at home to strugglers Wellington B. Despite having a grading advantage on every board (although admittedly board 5 was slightly dubious, with Wellington’s Rob Nayman only having an ELO rating which is roughly equivalent to an ECF grade of 100), the hosts were left empty-handed when a win would have lifted them clear at the top of the table. In the first game to finish, Ivor Salter’s commanding position and two-pawn advantage on board 3 dissipating after Colin Mace found some neat resources, leading Ivor’s King position to become rather…

The A team faced Wellington A on Wednesday 20th November at the Sir John Bailey Club.  A victory would have cemented Shrewsbury’s place at the top of the division and, on paper, this looked perfectly possible. Things started badly, though, when Francis Best lost to Toby Neal in the first game to finish.  In a double-edged position, Best opened up the centre too early, allowing black plenty of activity for his bishop on b7.  The pressure against the white king intensified and Neal finished the game with a powerful queen centralisation, winning material or mating the king.  1-0 to Wellington. Things went from bad to worse when David Everington overlooked…

Shrewsbury B recorded a comfortable victory at home to strugglers Telepost C to move into second place in the second division, and in doing so create a pleasing chronology with the top six teams in the division whereby leaders Telepost B have 8 points, then Shrewsbury B in second with seven, then Ludlow with 6, Oswestry A with 5, Newport B with 4 and Wellington B in 6th place with 3 points. Sadly, the pattern stops there, but it’s certainly an unusual occurrence! Skipper Matt Best was able to field a full strength team for only the second time this season (with the prior occasion coming in a draw with…

Shrewsbury Chess club enjoyed a successful (and busy) week, with the A Team and C Team (twice!) in action. Early on in the week, Ian Davies’ C Team secured a 4-0 victory over Newport Juniors, before Newport A and C game to visit their Shrewsbury equivalents on Friday. Newport A, the reining 1st Division and Cox Trophy champions, have the strongest team in the league on paper – meaning it was always going to be a tough task for Francis Best’s Shrewsbury A. With Jamie Hopkins taking a short break from league chess and Peter Kitchen unavailable, B team duo Matt Best and Mark Smith stepped in to fill the…

Shrewsbury B’s hopes of a fruitful 2013-2014 season, which had perked up from “nondescript” in pre-season to “slightly more ambitious” after a bright start that saw them head the Division 2 table after three games, were dealt a blow after a narrow reverse away to Town rivals Telepost B. With skipper Matt Best up in Scarborough (where he scored 2½/5 in the Intermediate section [under 151], with Dad Francis attaining the same score in the Major [under 171] Section), Andrew Lewis was pressed into service for the third time this season with Daniel Lockett taking up the mantle as stand-in captain. This does, however, mean the match report may be…

Shrewsbury A’s perfect start to the season was ended as they suffered a first league defeat of the season against town rivals Telepost A away on Monday night. Skipper Francis Best was boosted by the availability of Jamie Hopkins on top board, with Norman O’Connor filling in on board 5 alongside the regulars to complete the line-up as Shrewsbury looked to avenge last season’s double defeat against Telepost. Indeed, things started very well indeed (once everyone’s pen problems were sorted – David had inadvertently stolen Matthew Clark’s pen and many others were running dry!) for the visitors. Francis was facing Richard Bryant on board two – the match-up in which…

C Team captain Ian ‘dangerous’ Davies came to the rescue of ‘mediocre’ Matt Best whilst standing in for Matt’s B team with an excellent victory to ensure Shrewsbury B move atop the Division 2 table. The B team were hosting Oswestry A, promoted from the third division as Champions last season ahead of Wellington B and Ian’s C team, who had won their opening two games this season, boosted by the arrival of David Bennion to feature on top board this season. And it was Bennion who was involved in the first game to finish on the night. He elected to play an unusual reply to Matt’s Scandinavian on top…

Shrewsbury’s A and C had a sharp contrast in fortunes last night -the A Team sealed a tense victory to maintain their 100% record and move back to the summit of the Shropshire Chess League, while the C Team fell to a heavy defeat against Telford C. Both Shrewsbury sides were hosting teams who had been playing in the second division last season – Priorslee Lions B having sealed promotion and Telford (or Shifnal and Telford, as they were last season) C slipped down by finishing seventh. The two results, therefore, may appear to have been expected, but the games were far more tense than many may have predicted. In…

It had to happen at some point, and Shrewsbury Chess Club’s perfect start to the season ended as the B Team were held to a draw at home to Telford B. The visitors, who were relegated from the first division last season, were marginally outgraded on 4 of the 5 boards, but got off to a solid start with two draws on two of the boards where they had a grading deficit. Firstly, an initially complex position on top board between Matt Best and Simon Maydew from a Queen’s Indian style set up fizzled out into a rather gridlocked position early on, and a draw was agreed. Almost instantly after,…