Shrewsbury A were given an enormous fright by Shifnal and Telford B on Friday night. The visitors came into the game propping up the first division table and without the services of Windsor Peck, and so Steve and Richard Szwajkun stood in – the duo both having played against Shrewsbury B for Shifnal and Telford C on Wednesday, and in the third division for Newport the week before against Shrewsbury’s C Team. However, both looked thoroughly at home in the top flight. Richard’s impressive start to the season saw him play on board three, where Shrewsbury captain Jamie Hopkins had decided that David Everington’s excellent run (including, most notably, a victory over…

Shrewsbury B moved themselves into the top half of the second division table with a second consecutive victory. Matt Best’s side were away to Shifnal and Telford C, and, with the knowledge that both Ludlow and Telepost C had lost recently, knew a victory would be sufficient to propel them into 4th position. They were helped by the return of Mark Smith on top board after he had missed the previous three matches, and he got the match up and running with a relatively quick draw against Richard Szwajkun in a double edged Scandinavian. Ivor Salter’s position was looking promising on board two – another Scandinavian, and his opponent Tim Skidmore…

Controller Matt Best has published the draw for the second round of the Shrewsbury Club Championship. The pairings can be viewed on the Club Championship tab.

Matt Best’s wait for a first point (or two) as captain of Shrewsbury B was ended with a trip to fellow strugglers Priorslee Lions C – the only other team in the division without a point. The two sides both had identical league records going into the game – 0 match points and 5 game points. The basement battle had been postponed by a week, as the visitors would have been able to field only two players. Indeed, Mark Smith was unavailable to play for the third game running despite the rearrangement. However, Best was fortunate enough to be able to call upon Ed Goodwin to stand in on top…

Shrewsbury A’s unbeaten start to the season continued with a 4-1 victory over Church Stretton A. However, although the hosts were blessed with the addition of Phil Makepeace for a match as well as benefiting from Church Stretton being short a few players, the match was very tight and could have easily gone either way. Things were looking rosy after David Everington (probably the strongest board 5 likely to be seen in Shropshire this season) beat James Carless after the latter dropped his Queen. Francis Best proceeded to add to the scoreline when he beat Graham Shepherd on board three. Best played a hyper-accelerated dragon and managed to get a dominant pair…

Shrewsbury B’s worrying start to the season continued with a third consecutive defeat, this time at home to Newport B. Deprived of Mark Smith for the second game, captain Matt Best opted to give Geoff Knox his first game for the club on board two. The match got off to a fairly steady start, with Best agreeing a quick draw with Steve Cooper on board 5 after the Scandinavian petered out into a deadlocked, almost symmetrical position after just 18 moves. The second game to finish ended in the same result. Norman O’Connor and Chris Paul played an interesting game on board three which ended up with level material, opposite Bishops and…

There was a sombre mood at Shifnal & Telford on Wednesday night on account of the fact that Iain Wilson, previous President of the Shropshire Chess Association, had died that afternoon.  Iain had been suffering from cancer for a while and was a good friend of Shropshire Chess over many years, as well as of many of us individually.  There was probably no better way of honouring Iain’s memory than by having a good scrap over the board, and it’s fair to say that each and every player duly obliged by giving it their all; no short, “grandmaster” draws! On top board, captain Jamie Hopkins declined Dave Gostelow’s habitual early…

Despite our requests, the hospital remains adamant that we cannot store our equipment on site at the Redwoods Centre.  I have been holding off buying the new equipment agreed at the AGM until this matter was resolved but it looks like we will have to transport sets, boards and clocks back and forth each week, for the foreseeable future. At the moment, the plan is for everyone to take at least one of each (board, clock and set) for safe custody home and back.  I also have a suitcase containing several of each type of equipment but this is unwieldy and I would rather not continue with this for too…

Shrewsbury B narrowly missed out on a hard-fought result against recently relegated Ludlow. Deprived of both Mark Smith and Norman O’Connor, captain Matt Best opted to retain the services of Dan Lockett on top board with the former skipper yet to play 3 games for the A team and therefore still eligible, and Francis Rooney – the former Shrewsbury Junior without a regular team this season with Church Stretton B having been forced to fold. The match got off to a fairly quiet start, with Best and Lewis picking up quick draws on boards three and five against higher graded opponents. Things then got hectic. Firstly, Ivor Salter’s position on…

Shrewsbury Chess Club have completed their relocation to the extremely smart Redwood centre (pictures to the left). The centre is just 300 yards or so from the old playing area; just down the road from the old entrance. There are far more parking spaces than previously! To get to the centre, proceed as per previous until it gets to the entrance to the hospital previously used on the right. Carry on straight past there (there is a signpost on the left hand side of the road that should indicate if you’re doing well!) and it’s the large, lit up building to your right. Simply enter through the doors and let…