Pirates sunk in local derby defeat
Shrewsbury Pirates were well beaten by local rivals Malpas & Friends A in their opening fixture of the new 4NCL Online season.
The Pirates were whitewashed 4-0 in their division four opener by ruthless opponents from just across the Cheshire border who showed no mercy, writes Peter Kitchen.
Richard Vernon was an early casualty on board three, making a tactical error on move seven that put him on the back foot against Moussa Khalil Hameidi although he dug in well before being checkmated on move 38.
Nick Nuthall had a game to forget against Elliot Ainley on board two. After claiming a big advantage out of the opening, he let his edge slip and fell into a very awkward position with his pieces tangled on the back rank. It didn’t take too long for the pressure to tell, and Nuthall resigned on move 32 two pieces down.
In an interesting twist, Pedro Perez Dominguez found himself playing former Telepost stalwart Peter Crean – father of the club’s new recruit Vinnie Crean – on board four. The experienced Crean Senior plumped for the tricky Vienna Opening and gained a large advantage out of the opening.
Crean crashed through in devastating fashion on f7, and Dominguez resigned on move 24 facing inevitable checkmate.
Tony Purser put up the stiffest resistance on top board against Llewellyn Jones. Despite battling hard, Purser was outplayed in the middlegame but did well to prolong the battle into a rook and pawn endgame. Unfortunately, a two-pawn deficit proved too much to overcome, and the Malpas man checkmated Purser’s king on move 54.
Although the result was disappointing, the purpose of the team is to give as many players as possible the chance to play competitively and learn playing new opponents – and hopefully they’ll be better for the experience.
Captain Olusegun Ilesanmi will hope his side can bounce back and be competitive in round two, which will be played on Lichess on September 22.
Full scores (Shrewsbury colours in brackets):
Shrewsbury Pirates 0-4 Malpas & Friends A 1. Tony Purser (w) 0-1 Llewellyn Jones
2. Nick Nuthall (b) 0-1 Elliot Ainley
3. Richard Vernon (w) 0-1 Moussa Khalil Hameidi
4. Pedro Perez Dominguez (b) 0-1 Peter Crean