With safety and mid-table mediocrity assured for Shrewsbury B irrespective of their final two results of the league season, Matt Best’s side slumped to their heaviest defeat of the season against promotion chasers Priorslee Lions B. After having managed to postpone Wellington A’s promotion back to the top flight by a few weeks, the hosts were hoping to similarly deflate their opponent’s bid with a defeat. However, without Ivor Salter and facing a strong line-up, the heroics were not to be repeated this time around. Priorslee grabbed an early initiative as Shrewsbury appeared to be mentally on their summer holidays (indeed, actually so in Ivor’s case!). Firstly, George Viszokai beat Eric Inglis…

With the league season drawing towards its conclusion, the summer chess scene is just about to begin. As well as the usual team cup competitions with the Minor Knockout and Cox trophy to be battled for, the team rapidplay is set to return and, as every, the hotly-contested Shrewsbury Town Championships are set to begin. Having fielded the winner of the inaugural competition three years ago when David Everington secured the title, as well as providing his successor in the form of Jamie Hopkins, the title left Shrewsbury Chess Club last summer when Nigel Ferrington of Telepost won it. We believe that the time is right for a Shrewsbury player to win…

Thanks to preceding results, Shrewsbury A were guaranteed of third place in the first division irrespective of their results in the final two fixtures of the season. However, while most eyes in the country set on the Manchester derby on Sky, Jamie Hopkins’ side were busy recording a resounding victory over Telepost B. Matt Best, standing in on board 5, got things off to a flyer with a swift victory over Shane Sweeney in an entertaining King’s Gambit (which, incidentally was recently ridiculed by some amateur called Nigel Small or something like that. Pah, what does he know?!) after finding a neat mating combination (see diagram [as requested by David!]: White to…

Shrewsbury A’s bid for third place was given a significant boost by a victory in a rearranged fixture over rivals Priorslee Lions A. With neither side in danger of relegation but equally, with no prospect of challenging for top honours, the players could be more relaxed in enjoying the chess for its own sake. Daniel Lockett was the first to register a victory for the home side.  Andy Tunks dropped a piece in the opening and could find no way back.  He resigned shortly afterwards. David Everington was out for revenge in his game against Steve Tarr on board 3 having suffered a somewhat unfortunate defeat in the reverse fixture.…

Shrewsbury B turned in an excellent performance as they postponed Wellington A’s confirmation of promotion with a 3-2 victory at the Sir John Bailey club. The hosts – two points clear at the top of the second division with a game in hand on second-placed Newport B – had won ten and drawn one of their eleven preceding fixtures this season, although Matt Best’s side would have drawn confidence from running them close in the return fixture, as well as the absence of a few regulars from the Wellington side (although they were still able to field the two highest graded players in the division on boards one and two!).…

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…