Narrow derby defeat leaves A team winless and bottom

Shrewsbury A’s frustrating start to the season continued with a narrow 3-2 loss in the big county town derby away to reigning champions Telepost A last Wednesday.

Despite Stephen Priestley’s fine sacrificial kingside attack against Keith Tabner on bottom board giving Shrewsbury the lead, the match turned on boards two and three.

Peter Kitchen suffered a dispiriting loss with the white pieces versus Fred Bench on board three, before Charles Lowick Higgie’s decision to win an exchange rebounded on him as he fell to defeat against Dan Hilditch-Love.

That left the remaining players with a little too much to do. Olusegun Ilesanmi smoothly converted a rook ending against John Westhead on board four, but Jamie Hopkins lost on time against Nigel Ferrington having given one of the county’s top players a very good game.

It means that – despite two competitive showings so far and some impressive individual performances – Shrewsbury A are bottom of the Shropshire Chess League and already in need of results to pull themselves clear of trouble.

Another county town derby is next on the agenda – the home match with Darwinian Knights A on October 23 already has the makings of a four-pointer with both sides still seeking their first points of the season.

The As can take a lot of heart from their efforts against top-of-the-table Telepost – but will be left rueing key moments that saw the match slip from their grasp.

In truth, credit should be given to Hilditch-Love and Bench, who both played superb games to overturn Shrewsbury’s early lead which ultimately laid the foundation for their side’s win.

Captain Dan Lockett made one change from his side’s opening 3.5-1.5 defeat at Maddocks A, with Ilesanmi coming in on board four and Stephen Priestley dropping down to bottom board in place of Shane Greenwood . It meant for the second match running, Lockett was a non-playing captain.

The hosts made two changes, with Hilditch-Love and Keith Tabner replacing Ethan Parker and Vinnie Crean.

Priestley amassed his forces aggressively on the kingside against the experienced Tabner, and a piece sacrifice destroyed the defences of Tabner’s king, leaving open files for Priestley’s queen and two rooks to use to assault the black monarch. The game was over in short order after that, and Shrewsbury had the lead.

But Telepost fought back impressively. On board three, Kitchen had a promising position on the white side of a Fianchetto King’s Indian after Bench chose a slightly dubious sideline in the opening.

But after Bench critically stopped Kitchen from playing Bg5, the Shrewsbury man started to drift – and Bench reorganised effectively.

Despite momentarily being caught out on the queenside, Bench was able to repel the immediate threats. Remarkably, he was able to re-route his knight from the fringe of the game on a6 to become the defining piece of the game – while Kitchen’s pieces became uncoordinated and in each other’s way.

When Bench’s knight reached the zenith of it’s journey on d4, Kitchen had no choice but to exchange it off. It was replaced instantly and decisively by Bench’s bishop – and facing indefensible threats on the kingside Kitchen resigned after just 27 moves.

Hilditch-Love then got in on the act with a hugely impressive turnaround of his own. Lowick Higgie, playing with the black pieces, had gained space on the queenside out of the opening and appeared to have a comfortable position. He then spotted a tactic to win the exchange and couldn’t resist – giving up his g7 bishop for white’s rook on a1.

But the decision suddenly took away his attacking impetus and left many dark squared weaknesses in his position – particularly around his king.

Hilditch-Love co-ordinated his minor pieces extremely effectively, and ultimately launched a successful kingside attack that led to ruinous losses for Lowick Higgie. Hilditch-Love’s victory was all the more impressive as he turned the game around in his final 15 minutes of thinking time – and was playing his first game for five-and-a-half months.

Now playing catch up, both Ilesanmi and Hopkins fought valiantly. Ilesanmi had claimed an edge out of the opening with the black pieces against John Westhead – an early …e5 break in a Semi-Slav proving effective. He went into a double rook ending a pawn up, and smoothly converted it to victory.

Hopkins played a strong positional game against one of the county’s elite in Telepost captain Nigel Ferrington on top board. The position appeared to remain largely level, but after Ferrington declined a draw offer from Hopkins while Telepost were 1-0 down, the Shrewsbury man then ran into time trouble. Eventually Hopkins lost on time – scant reward for another strong individual performance.

Final scores (Shrewsbury colours in brackets):

Telepost A 3-2 Shrewsbury A

1. Nigel Ferrington 1-0 Jamie Hopkins (w)

2. Dan Hilditch-Love 1-0 Charles Lowick Higgie (b)

3. Fred Bench 1-0 Peter Kitchen (w)

4. John Westhead 0-1 Olusegun Ilesanmi (b)

5. Keith Tabner 0-1 Stephen Priestley (w)