Shrewsbury Chess Club

Shrewsbury Pirates slipped to their third 4NCL Online division four defeat in five games, as they slipped to a 3-1 loss to War & Piece Banner. The Pirates could only field three players after the named board three Richard Vernon was called up to play for Shrewsbury A against Newport Junior A on the same evening, writes Peter Kitchen. And in a match between two evenly-matched teams on paper, it proved to be a key difference as Shrewsbury were unable to claw back the deficit. The Pirates had not played for four weeks since their heavy defeat at the hands of Epsom Salties 2 in round three – they had…

Shrewsbury B will look to end the club’s apparent autumnal hoodoo at Newport when they bid to get their Shropshire Chess League division two campaign up and running. Richard Vernon’s side will travel to face Newport Junior B on Tuesday with both clubs searching for their first points of the season, writes Peter Kitchen. The match falls within an intriguing subplot between the two clubs. It will be the third week in the last four that Shrewsbury teams have travelled to Newport Royal British Legion – and Shrewsbury are yet to pick up a point from any of them. Shrewsbury A lost 5-0 against Newport A as Shrewsbury C went…

Shrewsbury C will hope the fourth time is the charm as they continue to search for their first Shropshire Chess League division three points of the season. Ben Howells’ side will host Newport Knights on Wednesday (November 5) looking to end a run of three straight defeats since the side’s reformation for this season, writes Peter Kitchen. That run included two defeats in the space of 24 hours against two of the division’s strongest sides in Newport B and Darwinian Knights C – a quirk of the fixture list that saw the rearranged Darwinian fixture placed in the same week as an existing fixture. But despite the defeats – 3.5-0.5…

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…