Losing run comes to an end – but little festive cheer for As after Darwinian draw
Shrewsbury A made sure they moved off the bottom of the Shropshire Chess League division one table in time for Christmas – but captain Dan Lockett was left rueing “a missed opportunity” after his side drew with Darwinian Knights A.
Shane Greenwood rescued a point for the hosts with a coolly-taken victory over Cesar Pileggi in the final game to finish on bottom board – but Lockett admitted the Darwinian derby was one he had hoped his side could win to help them gain ground on the midtable pack.
Lockett himself had been defeated by Darwinian’s rising junior star Rudi Bedford on board two, but Shrewsbury disappointingly failed to make inroads on the other three boards, leaving it down to Greenwood to convert a superior ending long after the remaining games had finished to end the A team’s run of four straight defeats.
The 2.5-2.5 took Shrewsbury back above Oswestry A at the foot of the table – but they remain two points adrift of sixth—placed Newport Junior A and three behind Darwinian Knights A and Maddocks A – with the big county town derby against defending champions Telepost A next up on January 21.
“I thought it (the Darwinian match) was a missed opportunity really,” said Lockett. “They’ve been getting some good results against other teams and are clearly playing well, but when you look at gradings, we outgraded them by a good margin (on average over 100 points) so normally that would translate into a better result.”
Shrewsbury made two changes from the side that lost 3-2 at Maddocks A in their previous fixture. Olusegun Ilesanmi was unavailable, so Mark Smith came into the side on board four, meaning Lockett and Stephen Priestley each moved up a board. Greenwood was back available for the first time since the draw at Telford A in early October – he came in for David Edwards on bottom board.
The visitors themselves made just one change from their recent draw at Telford A – board two Kate Walker dropped out, meaning three players moved up a board in Pileggi came into the team on bottom board.
Less than an hour of play had elapsed when the first game finished. Priestley and opponent Nathan Jeukens played 27 very swift moves each on board three – but reached a sterile-looking position that was agreed drawn.
Smith also drew swiftly on board four a short time later. His decision to accept Steve Kempsell’s draw offer on move 22 looked justified, as his bishop and knight appeared slightly worse then Kempsell’s two bishops in the middlegame.
But the visitors then drew first blood when Bedford put them into the lead. The Darwinian youngster had played an ambitious early …f5 idea against Lockett’s Exchange Ruy Lopez, but when the Shrewsbury captain found his pieces caught in a web of pins in the middle of the board, he was faced with losing a decisive amount of material and resigned.
There was further frustration for the hosts on top board. Peter Kitchen would have hoped to avenge his rapidplay league defeat to visiting captain Matthew Clark the previous week, and went into the game with a decent recent classical record against his opponent.
But Clark gave little away playing solidly on the white side of the French Tarrasch, and Kitchen slipped 20 minutes behind on the clock carefully navigating his way through the early middlegame.
Clark offered a draw on move 21 – one which he later described as “a draw offer for the match” knowing that Shrewsbury were looking strong in the game on bottom board – Kitchen felt in no position to take unnecessary risks and accepted.
That left Shrewsbury’s players with a nervous wait that lasted the best part of an hour before Greenwood saw his game home. Having played very actively in the middlegame he had secured a two-pawn advantage, which he calmly and patiently converted in a queen and rook endgame.
Lockett added: “Unfortunately Ile was unavailable, but I’m glad we had Shane back in the side as his win at the end of the evening saved our blushes.”
Full scores (Shrewsbury colours in brackets):
Shrewsbury A 2.5-2.5 Darwinian Knights A
1. Peter Kitchen (b) 0.5-0.5 Matthew Clark
2. Dan Lockett (w) 0-1 Rudi Bedford
3. Stephen Priestley (b) 0.5-0.5 Nathan Jeukens
4. Mark Smith (w) 0.5-0.5 Steve Kempsell
5. Shane Greenwood (b) 1-0 Cesar Pileggi
Average ratings: Shrewsbury A: 1746 ECF; Darwinian Knights A: 1635 ECF.