Shrewsbury Chess Club

Shrewsbury C ensured that at the halfway stage of the third division season, their promotion hopes were kept on track with a victory over Oswestry B. Going into the game, Ian Davies’ side were in 4th place on 6 points, 6, 5 and 4 points off the trailblazing trio of Oswestry A, Wellington B and Newport D respectively, albeit with a game in hand. It was, therefore, imperative that they made the most of said extra game in order to ensure the gap between themselves and second didn’t become untenable. Things started off solidly with Andrew Lewis agreeing a quick draw on top board against Steve Tulett. It looked a…

Shrewsbury B’s survival hopes were given a significant boost by a crucial victory away to Telepost C. The two sides went into the match separated by just one point and one place- the hosts were in fifth, whilst the visitors were sixth – one place above the relegation zone. They were, however, boosted by the fact that all three of their players who had entered the excellent Shropshire Congress over the preceding two days had come away with prizes – Francis Rooney finishing on 4/5 in the minor, securing joint third with 4 others and sharing the under 115 grading prize and congress-wide best Junior prize with Jonathan Newey; Matt…

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Shrewsbury A’s title hopes were all but extinguished after they found themselves on the wrong side of a 3.5-1.5 scoreline away to super-strong Newport A. Jamie Hopkins’ side were without the services of Peter Kitchen on board 4, so Dan Lockett moved up to board 4 and Ivor Salter, fresh from his impressive performance against Toby Neal for the B Team, filled in on board 4 against Tony Holdford. However, Ivor was unable to repeat his heroics this time out. He lost a pawn early on in the opening, and struggled from that point. In the end, despite his best efforts, he conceded defeat. His game was not, however, the…

Shrewsbury B were just unable to secure a result against second division title favourites Wellington A on Friday night. Wellington had a grading advantage on every board – at its smallest on board 5 and increasing on each board, to the stage where the visitors had a 38 point grading advantage on top board. Shrewsbury captain Matt Best had called on the services of Francis Rooney for the second time this season to play board 5, and he faced Ken Hickmott. Rooney, Black, played a Sicilian Dragon set up, but found himself with his dark-squared Bishop trapped in by his own pawns, and ended up having to give it up…

Dan Lockett secure his first win of the season for Shrewsbury A to help the team record a second consecutive win and move to within 3 points of table-topping Telepost A to set the stage for a critical clash away to second-placed Newport on December 6th. Lockett, who was promoted to the A team on a regular basis this summer, had been unfortunate so far this season, losing his opening 4 games despite some impressive results whilst standing in for the B team. He found himself up against Dean Pinnington this time out – a player whom he had beaten in the Shrewsbury Town Championship this summer. Indeed, the visitors…

Shrewsbury A were given an enormous fright by Shifnal and Telford B on Friday night. The visitors came into the game propping up the first division table and without the services of Windsor Peck, and so Steve and Richard Szwajkun stood in – the duo both having played against Shrewsbury B for Shifnal and Telford C on Wednesday, and in the third division for Newport the week before against Shrewsbury’s C Team. However, both looked thoroughly at home in the top flight. Richard’s impressive start to the season saw him play on board three, where Shrewsbury captain Jamie Hopkins had decided that David Everington’s excellent run (including, most notably, a victory over…

Shrewsbury B moved themselves into the top half of the second division table with a second consecutive victory. Matt Best’s side were away to Shifnal and Telford C, and, with the knowledge that both Ludlow and Telepost C had lost recently, knew a victory would be sufficient to propel them into 4th position. They were helped by the return of Mark Smith on top board after he had missed the previous three matches, and he got the match up and running with a relatively quick draw against Richard Szwajkun in a double edged Scandinavian. Ivor Salter’s position was looking promising on board two – another Scandinavian, and his opponent Tim Skidmore…

Controller Matt Best has published the draw for the second round of the Shrewsbury Club Championship. The pairings can be viewed on the Club Championship tab.

Matt Best’s wait for a first point (or two) as captain of Shrewsbury B was ended with a trip to fellow strugglers Priorslee Lions C – the only other team in the division without a point. The two sides both had identical league records going into the game – 0 match points and 5 game points. The basement battle had been postponed by a week, as the visitors would have been able to field only two players. Indeed, Mark Smith was unavailable to play for the third game running despite the rearrangement. However, Best was fortunate enough to be able to call upon Ed Goodwin to stand in on top…