Higgie’s Heroics Help Topple Reigning Champions
Charles Lowick Higgie’s spectacular win with the black pieces against Shropshire’s number two Nigel Ferrington sealed a famous derby win for Shrewsbury A over old rivals and previously undefeated league leaders Telepost A.
Higgie – fresh from his exploits on England duty at the World Senior Championship in Prague – won a tactical and complex struggle on top board to give the hosts an unassailable lead en route to a 3.5-1.5 victory. Mark Smith had earlier won on bottom board, meaning Shrewsbury could ultimately afford Peter Kitchen missing the equivalent of an open goal to miss out on a win against Phil Zabrocki on board two.
It’s added a twist to the battles at both ends of the table – two derby wins in eight days have seen Shrewsbury climb out of the relegation zone. A first defeat of the season for Telepost represents something of a wobble after a draw with bottom-of-the-table Darwinian Knights A last time out.
Shrewsbury made one change to the team that defeated Darwinian Knights A 4-1 last week – Higgie returned to the side in place of the unavailable Jamie Hopkins. Telepost strengthened their team by bringing in Dan Hilditch-Love on board three, with John Westhead dropping out.
A tight and tense match burst into life when Smith won on bottom board, taking advantage of an error by Ethan Parker in a level-looking position to win a rook and the game.
On board two, Kitchen amassed an ominous looking attack on the kingside before correctly sacrificing a bishop to rip open Zabrocki’s king’s defences. But he then couldn’t see the way to add extra forces to the attack and took a perpetual. The engine wasn’t kind to him and quickly revealed the winning method… An opportunity for a big scalp (and a first league win of the season) missed for Peter, but many lessons learned!
Captain Dan Lockett then held a tricky looking ending against Fred Bench on board four, leaving Shrewsbury 2-1 up but with two blacks still in play – and the notorious grinder Ferrington still playing.
Onlookers could have been forgiven for even making Telepost slight favourites at this point, with Hilditch-Love appearing to be a solid pawn up against Stephen Priestley on board three.
But Higgie started to gain the upper hand against Ferrington, and with both players running short of time the Shrewsbury man won a piece and shortly after the game, clinching the match in Shrewsbury’s favour.
Priestley continues to make a nuisance of himself against Hilditch-Love and eventually held the draw, ensuring Shrewsbury kept a “clean sheet” by losing none of the five boards.
A famous night indeed!
Full scores:
Shrewsbury A 3.5-1.5 Telepost A (Shrewsbury colours in brackets)
1. Charles Lowick Higgie (b) 1-0 Nigel Ferrington
2. Peter Kitchen (w) 0.5-0.5 Phil Zabrocki
3. Stephen Priestley (b) 0.5-0.5 Dan Hilditch-Love
4. Dan Lockett (w) 0.5-0.5 Fred Bench
5. Mark Smith (b) 1-0 Ethan Parker
The big matches keep on coming for Shrewsbury – fellow strugglers Newport A will be the visitors to Cromwell’s on March 19th.