Town Rivals to Face off for Second Time in a Week as Covid Threat Grows

Shrewsbury and Telepost’s first teams will face each other for the second derby in little more than a week – amid growing concern over the threat of Covid-19 to local over-the-board chess.

Shrewsbury A and Telepost A will meet virtually on Tuesday in Shropshire Online Chess League division one. It comes after last week’s over-the-board derby, which Shrewsbury won 3-2.

But Telepost has taken the decision as a club to postpone all over-the-board activities due to the fast-spreading Omicron variant. A notice on the club’s website states: “Due to the pandemic, the club is closed for over-the-board chess until further notice.”

As a result it has postponed the over-the board fixture between Telepost C and Telepost B which was due to take place on Monday, as well as Wednesday’s clash between Telford A and Telepost D.

The general decision for over-the-board chess will be discussed by the Shropshire Chess League executive committee on Sunday 19th December.

Some Telepost club members had raised concerns about the growing threat of Covid-19 before last week’s town derby, although both sides were happy to play the match.

In terms of Tuesday’s online clash, Shrewsbury A have no fresh selection concerns and are expected to be unchanged from their 2.5-1.5 online victory over Oswestry B earlier this month.

As the nominated “away” team, Shrewsbury will be white on odd boards. The time control will be all moves in 45 minutes, with 15 seconds increment per move.