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Pre-Season Friendly Ends in Honours Even

Shrewsbury chess club got off to its usual unofficial launch to the season with our traditional (after a break of a couple of years) friendly versus Telepost.

As is usual, there were a couple of free transfers to even up the numbers with Peter Crean and Martin Ayres honorary Shrewsbury members for the evening.  As there was an odd number of players, Keith Tabner stood aside, which was very nice of him, as he’d organised the whole thing.  Scores were as follows in board order:

Nigel Ferrington 1-0 Francis Best

Matthew Clark   ½-½ Mark Smith

Steve Kempsell  0-1 Peter Crean

John Westhead ½-½ Ivor Salter

Quentin Mills.   ½-½ N O’Connor

Alan Cliff             0-1 Tony Purser

John Casewell    1-0 Martin Ayres

3 ½-3½

Honours even!  Ringers winning one (Peter) and losing the other (Martin).  Of the games involving Shrewsbury players there were 3 rather uneventful draws.  Saw hardly any of Ivor’s game but it looked a drawn ending from quite early on.  My own game wasn’t terribly exciting, except it appears that I missed a move that would have won the exchange just out of the opening.  Thereafter the game fizzled out to a dull draw.  Norman appeared to have some initiative against the improving Quentin Mills but, with no pawns on the Queenside, making anything of it looked difficult and a draw was agreed when they reached a rook ending.  I did catch the end of Tony’s game, a very sharp position in which Tony had the upper hand.  He rode his luck as a mistake in move order saw the balance change from a big advantage to probably lost to totally won as Alan missed his chance, all in the space of one move!  The final position with Tony about to mate was rather attractive but not for Alan’s King!

The most interesting game of the evening was Francis’s against Nigel.  A casual glance at the position would have told you that Francis was totally lost, as he had just two Knights for a Queen. Looking for a bit longer, though, and all was not so simple.  The Knights were well placed and the construction of a fortress looked a real possibility.  Hopes of Francis obtaining the draw that would give Shrewsbury victory were dashed, however, as Nigel really showed his class by giving back some of his material so that he was now a mere exchange up but in a much simpler position that was clearly won.  All in all, an enjoyable evening, which will have blown off a few cobwebs.  I think we should look to host it next year at Shrewsbury.

Mark Smith

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