Shrewsbury Chess Club

A depleted Shrewsbury A were no match for early league leaders Newport A, crashing to a 5-0 defeat on a chastening night on their travels. A chronic availability shortage meant Dan Lockett’s side were only able to field four players. Things didn’t get any better over the board, as Newport’s superior class shone through and saw them win every game, writes Peter Kitchen. The result leaves Shrewsbury A in the lower half of the Shropshire Chess League division one table – and in need of a response when they return to Newport Royal British Legion Club next week to take on newly-promoted Newport Junior A. It was a tough night…

Peter Kitchen can still remember his first ever appearance in the Four Nations Chess League. It was November 2005, and Peter – who had only joined Shrewsbury Chess Club four months earlier – lined up on board five for Celtic Tigers’ first ever match. He drew with the black pieces against Graham Morris as his side lost 4.5-1.5 – but it was the start of something special for Peter’s side and an opportunity to compete regularly on the national stage for Peter. Fast forward 20 years and Peter is still playing for Celtic Tigers as one of his side’s founding members. The club, which has players from across Britain and…

Shrewsbury B will hope to use a local derby as a springboard to put their difficult start to life in Shropshire Chess League division two behind them. The B team will make the short trip up Abbey Foregate on Tuesday (October 28) to face a Darwinian Knights B side who have themselves made a stuttering start to the season, writes Peter Kitchen. It has been a fruitless start for the newly promoted Bs, who are bottom of the table without a point after two defeats in their opening two matches. But they will take great heart from the way an under-strength side was so competitive last time out against Church…

Shrewsbury C will this week play two fixtures in the space of 24 hours as they look to get their fledgling Shropshire Chess League division three season up and running. Ben Howells’ team will once again join their A team colleagues on Tuesday for a double header at Newport – the c team facing Newport B and the A team up against Newport A. Then the following night, the C team will play their rearranged opening fixture against Darwinian Knights C at Cromwell’s Tap House, writes Peter Kitchen. It’s a gruelling schedule so early in the season – and may well involve some squad rotation to ease the burden on…

It’s been a little shy of six months since that unforgettable night when a season’s work came down to one game. Shrewsbury A and Newport A went into a final day shootout knowing only one side could finish outside the relegation zone. Ultimately Newport prevailed 3-2 on the final board of the season to finish when Charles Lowick Higgie lost on time to Nick Rutter – though happily for Shrewsbury they were spared from the drop due to a reorganisation of the leagues over the summer, writes Peter Kitchen. Dan Lockett’s A team will make their first return to Newport Royal British Legion Club since that night on Tuesday –…

Shrewsbury A captain Dan Lockett has hailed his team’s “competitive” performances at the start of their Shropshire Chess League division one campaign – despite seeing his charges fall to an agonising 3-2 defeat away to Telford A. Despite being without regulars Olusegun Ilesanmi and Mark Smith and being significantly outgraded by their hosts, the visitors were competitive on all five boards, writes Peter Kitchen. Ultimately Ivor Salter’s loss to Toby Neal on board four was the night’s only decisive result – and Shrewsbury had chances on all three of the top boards before all of those games finished as draws, including a tense finish in a complex ending in a…

Shrewsbury B will go into this week’s home game against Church Stretton A looking to recover from their humbling opening defeat at Oswestry B. The newly-promoted seconds had made the journey up the A5 to face one of the previous campaign’s strugglers with relatively high hopes on the back of winning the Shropshire Chess League division three title last season. But their opening encounter at the higher level brought them crashing back down to earth as they returned on the end of a 5-0 loss, writes Peter Kitchen. Stretton will roll into Cromwell’s on Wednesday (October 15) with a fair degree of confidence themselves. They drew their opening division two…

An experimental Shrewsbury Pirates side fell to a heavy defeat in their latest 4NCL Online division four outing. The Pirates were sunk by a well drilled Epsom Salties 2 outfit, who took advantage of early errors by Shrewsbury players to ease to a 4-0 win. Shrewsbury handed competitive debuts to Nick Nuthall and Tom Osenton on boards two and four, with the pair coming in for Olusegun Ilesanmi and Peter Kitchen. Without the top two boards from the win over Worcestershire Wolfpack D last time out, Tony Purser moved up to top board. Ben Howells was first to finish on board three, losing material after coming under pressure early on…

This is a quick message to our members, and those thinking of attending tonight. Due to two of our teams being away playing league matches, and a few of our regulars being away on holiday, please be aware that there will be a more limited club night at Cromwell’s tonight. The venue will of course still be open and will be welcoming as always and players can still attend if they wish.

Shrewsbury A overcame a “potentially tricky fixture” by defeating Oswestry A in their opening Shropshire Chess League division one outing, according to captain Dan Lockett. Mark Smith and Shane Greenwood were the matchwinners as Shrewsbury edged to a deserved 3-2 victory – a fine start to the new campaign after the side received a reprieve from relegation last season, writes Peter Kitchen. Lockett said his side’s two victors had made the difference in a tight match – and that the whole team had stepped up after the loss of last season’s top two boards Jamie Hopkins and Charles Lowick Higgie and the unavailability of Stephen Priestley. Smith’s triumph over Paul…