Third Defeat in Four Keeps C Team Rooted to Foot of the Table

A tenacious win against the odds from Robert Green was not enough to rescue a point for Shrewsbury C as they lost to runaway Shropshire Online Chess League division two leaders Telford A.

Green fought back from a piece down to secure an unlikely triumph against Richard Thompson on bottom board, writes Peter Kitchen.

That levelled the scores after captain Richard Vernon had earlier lost to Stefan Tennant on board two. But Tony Purser lost the decider on top board against Roger Brown to consign the heavily-outgraded C team to a 2-1 defeat.

After an unorthodox opening on board two, Vernon built up a strong pawn centre against Tennant’s hypermodern set-up and had a clear advantage in the early middlegame. But a premature d5 advance cost him his e5 spearhead and his advantage.

Both players made inaccuracies in a complicated position, until Vernon blundered away a piece on move 22. That ultimately ended the game as a contest, although Vernon battled on gamely until he was checkmated on move 48.

Green made a reasonable start the black side of a London System against the experienced Thompson, but an ill-timed …b4 advance on move 11 quickly cost him his queen’s knight.

With the queens also coming off the board, that should have been that. But Green fought on, and errors suddenly started to creep into his opponent’s game around the move 30 mark. Two consecutive blunders saw Thompson’s position fall apart, costing him a bishop and a knight and quickly bringing about his resignation to level the scores.

Purser lost a pawn coming out of the opening – an Advance Caro-Kann – as black against Brown. The position remained closed, leading to neither side castling and both kings manoeuvring behind their own wall of pawns during the middlegame.

Purser’s attempts to counter on the kingside were rebuffed, and Brown patiently built up pressure as he looked to consolidate his advantage.

Ultimately his big f5 break was played a little too soon according to computer analysis, but passive defence by Purser in the aftermath proved his undoing. Brown quickly won a second pawn and entered a rook ending two pawns up, with a more active rook and a strong passed pawn on e6. Things quickly went downhill for Purser – he lost his rook on move 49 and stumbled on until he was checkmated on move 67.

The C team remains bottom of the online division two table with one win and three defeats – but won’t have to wait long for the chance to add to their tally as they face Oswestry C this coming Thursday (February 2).

Full scores:

Shrewsbury C 1-2 Telford A (Shrewsbury colours in brackets)

1. Tony Purser (b) 0-1 Roger Brown

2. Richard Vernon (w) 0-1 Stefan Tennant

3. Robert Green (b) 1-0 Richard Thompson