Sights set high as new season looms large
Higher ambitions will be the order of the day for the new season as Shrewsbury Chess Club starts an exciting new era.
That’s the view of club secretary Peter Kitchen, who hopes the arrival of at least six players from former county town rivals Telepost will help inspire an upturn in fortunes for the club’s Shropshire Chess League teams.
The dissolution of Telepost has seen Shrewsbury A retain their place in division one, and it is hoped the influx of new faces challenging for first team roles will help strengthen the B team in division two as well.
Fixtures for the first two months of the season have been released, and the club is now in advanced stages of planning for the new season and confirming nominated players for each team. A decision has also been taken since the club’s annual general meeting to enter a third team in Shropshire Rapidplay Chess League.
While the club has undoubtedly enjoyed a substantial growth in membership and infrastructure over the past two years which has seen the number of league teams the club enters rise from one to four, results in the short-term have been more challenging.
Shrewsbury A have finished in the bottom two of division one for the past three seasons and finished bottom last season, while a poor end to the season saw Shrewsbury B finish bottom of division two just 12 months after winning the division three title.
Club members had agreed at the club’s recent AGM to ask for Shrewsbury A and B to line up in division two and the C and newly-formed D teams to compete in division three. But the deal that secured the arrival of Telepost’s membership the following week has seen sights adjusted.
“We aren’t setting any grand targets for the new season, but with the new arrivals I think it’s fair to say we’ll aim to be looking up the table in divisions one and two rather than over our shoulders,” said Kitchen.
“As always, the division three teams are aimed at giving people the chance to play competitive chess and gain experience. We’ll have some more experienced players beefing up the teams on higher boards – if we can challenge at the top end of the table, that would be a bonus.
“Our aim has always been to make sure players are competing at a level where they have a reasonable chance of success – we want people to have games that are challenging but not overwhelming. With the arrival of Telepost’s players – including some of the strongest players in the county – we have the chance to do that.
“Personally, I’m just so excited about the opportunities this brings to all of our membership. It will include new ideas to enhance our club, but also the chance to learn from stronger and more experienced players. It has the potential to be so beneficial for all parties.”
Those benefits are already being felt – Nigel Ferrington captained a Shrewsbury team including fellow new recruit Phil Zabrocki at last weekend’s Shropshire Team Quickplay at Maddocks.
And a C team will be entered in division two of the rapidplay league to give more players the chance to play at a quicker format.
Attentions are now starting to turn to the start of the upcoming league season, with a full set of fixtures due to be released soon.
The clubs A and B teams both start against teams that also struggled and finished in the bottom two of each division last season. Shrewsbury A will start at home to Telford A in division one on October 7 before travelling to Oswestry A on October 21. Shrewsbury B will begin their campaign at home to Maddocks B on October 12 before travelling to face newly-promoted Telford C on October 28.
Shrewsbury D host Shrewsbury C in the division three curtain-raiser on September 21. The C team will be at home to Newport B on October 7 and travel to Newport Rooks on October 20, while the D team will have trips to the new Maddocks Junior side on October 8 and Darwinian Knights C on October 20.