Darwinian derby chance to determine “survival of the fittest”
Shrewsbury A will go into this week’s local derby with Darwinian Knights A in desperate need of some festive cheer – after captain Dan Lockett admitted there were “no real positives” to take from a 3-2 loss at Maddocks A last time out.
While the defeat in Oakengates was determined by the final – and only decisive – game of the night, in truth Shrewsbury rarely looked like winning a board and could gave few complaints at the final outcome, writes Peter Kitchen.
It meant a fourth loss in a row for the As, and they are now a couple of points adrift of the midfield pack in Shropshire Chess League division one along with bottom-of-the-table Oswestry A.
On Wednesday they will welcome a Darwinian Knights side to Cromwell’s who themselves are enjoying a vastly improved season, surprising perhaps even themselves as they have one win, three draws and just the solitary defeat so far this term.
For a side that was cut well adrift at the bottom of the table last season, it is a major step forward – and to coin one of Darwin’s most famous works, suggests they are looking better equipped to win the “survival of the fittest” race to stay in the top flight.
The As did achieve a narrow 2.5-1.5 win over Darwinian during this week’s Shropshire Rapidplay League fixtures at Cromwell’s – and they will hope this will act as a positive omen for what will be a crucial match in the league, the side’s last game before the Christmas break.
And the Maddocks result was at least a competitive scoreline similar to those the side had at the start of the season before two chastening and heavy defeats against Newport A and Newport Junior A.
Against Maddocks, Shrewsbury were at least able to welcome back Olusegun Ilesanmi and Stephen Priestley into the side, the latter of whom was making his first league appearance of the season owing to work commitments. They replaced Richard Vernon and the unavailable Mark Smith in the side, while David Edwards dropped down to bottom board.
The hosts outgraded Shrewsbury on all boards, but the outcome of the match remained in the balance all evening as the visitors stuck to their task.
Edwards drew in just 13 moves against the solid Munroe Morrison on bottom board, and a ceasefire was quickly agreed on board two, where Ilesanmi’s second draw offer if the game was accepted on move 19 by former county champion Glyn Pugh. Ilesanmi was a pawn down having played the Budapest Gambit, but retained counter chances in the early middlegame before the game’s abrupt end.
On board four, Priestley appeared to have an inferior middlegame against another former county champion Simon Maydew, whose bishop appeared stronger than Priestley’s knight. But the Shrewsbury player managed to hold the balance to make it three draws from three on the night.
This left two of Shrewsbury’s white boards to finish. But while Lockett appeared to have a level position against Steve Tarr on board three, Peter Kitchen had misplayed the opening against home captain Tony Preece on board one and was trying to defend a clearly worse endgame with queen and doubled c-pawns against Preece’s queen and passed g and h-pawns.
However, Kitchen kept asking questions – and managed a well-timed queen exchange that enabled him to queen one of his pawns at the same time as Preece. These queens were then exchanged – and the final pair of pawns also managed to queen together, leaving Preece forced to accept a draw on move 55 and ruing missed opportunities earlier in the game.
But there was to be a sting in the tail. Lockett lost a couple of pawns in a complicated endgame against Tarr, and despite setting a few tricky questions for his opponent, ultimately had to concede defeat to seal the match in Maddocks’ favour.
“It was good to have Ile and Stephen back, but there were no real positives beyond that for me,” said Lockett.
“Losses and draws don’t win us matches, so we’ll have to improve.
“We were outgraded on all boards again I think, so perhaps its not a surprise we lost.”
Full scores (Shrewsbury colours in brackets):
Maddocks A 3-2 Shrewsbury A
1.Tony Preece 0.5-0.5 Peter Kitchen (w)
2.Glyn Pugh 0.5-0.5 Olusegun Ilesanmi (b)
3.Steve Tarr 1-0 Dan Lockett (w)
4.Simon Maydew 0.5-0.5 Stephen Priestley (b)
5.Munroe Morrison 0.5-0.5 David Edwards (w)
Average ratings – Maddocks A: 1797 ECF; Shrewsbury A: 1731 ECF
Wednesday’s match against Darwinian Knights A will start at 7.30pm in the playing room at Cromwell’s Tap House, with friendlies and social chess taking place in the bar.