Shrewsbury B ensured that the Club’s summer chess adventures got off to a flying start with a convincing 4-0 minor knockout win over Division three outfit Telepost D to set up a quarter final clash with Telepost C.
After captain Matt Best lost the toss, Ivor Salter got proceedings underway with an efficient victory over Alan Cliff on board two. Having played his habitual Scandinavian, Ivor was able to get a nice, expansive position out of the opening and was able to deliver a very tidy Knight checkmate after Alan overlooked a Bishop on the long diagonal covering his King’s escape.
Matt then doubled the lead when he beat Brian Holford on board 4. After Brian chose to exchange a Bishop and Knight for a Rook and Pawn, Matt was able to get an early initiative in the game. He gradually increased the pressure, first winning the exchange to put himself a clear piece up, before winning another piece, a Pawn and ultimately Checkmate with the Queen in the corner.
Next to finish was the top board tussle between Mark Smith and Shane Sweeney. Having developed a fearsome attack early on, Mark found himself two pieces up after Shane had to sacrifice in order to prevent mate. As pieces were further exchanged off, Mark grabbed several pawns and almost constructed a beautiful mating net with a Knight, Rook and Bishop only for Shane to spot it and foil the plan by swapping off Rooks. However, it was only a temporary respite as Mark queened one of the excess Pawns and duly sealed the deal.
That meant that the final game to finish was Norman O’Connor’s against Kate Walker on board three. As the game drew towards a complex ending, one or two minor misjudgments on Kate’s behalf allowed Norman to put a Rook on the seventh, leave Kate’s Kingside Pawns awkwardly placed and force through his passed e-Pawn, at which point Kate resigned.
Shrewsbury B 4-0 Telepost D
- M. Smith 1-0 S. Sweeney
- I. Salter 1-0 A. Cliff
- N. O’Connor 1-0 K. Walker
- M. Best 1-0 B. Holford