It’s fair to say expectations at Shrewsbury Chess Club have been exceeded this season.
The A team recorded its first top three finish in Shropshire Chess League’s top flight for a decade, pipping Telepost A to third and ending the season as the highest ranked side from the county town in the process, writes Peter Kitchen.
There has also been success in Shropshire Online Chess League, where Shrewsbury A look set to finish as runners up in division one and Shrewsbury B will avoid the wooden spoon. Shrewsbury C also enjoyed a competitive season in division two before finishing third.
In Shropshire Rapidplay League division one, Shrewsbury A also finished a respectable fourth out of six teams.
All of this has been achieved against a backdrop of uncertainty, with key players missing for extended periods of the season and fears raised over the club’s venue – something that has now taken on greater significance with last week’s news that the Nerdy Café will close.
The club has since issued a rallying cry for help amid genuine concerns that it could be forced to fold unless a new suitable venue can be found soon. More details can be found here.
A high-profile signing
There’s no doubt that Shrewsbury A’s fortunes in all formats have been transformed by the signing of Nathanael Paul.
Nat, who counts what is now Maddocks and Newport among his former clubs, joined Shrewsbury towards the end of last season from Telepost as he eased his way back into playing chess following a break.
What has happened since has been remarkable. Starting off with an impressive win in the season-opening triumph at Oswestry A, Nat won seven, drew two and lost just one of his 10 league matches on top board.
His 8/10 score, allied with some strong individual performances in congresses, helped him climb to the top of the Shropshire ranking list for the first time in April – and he still retains the Shropshire number one spot as the season draws to a close.
He has proved to be the top board anchor the team was desperately searching for, and is also currently in the lead of Shrewsbury Club Championship with one round to go.
But he has also fitted in superbly on the club’s social scene, and is readily available to assist and advise players to help them improve their game. A true star signing in every aspect!
A return to old glories over the board
For the first dozen or so years of the 21st century, Shrewsbury A were fixtures in the top three of Shropshire Chess League’s top flight and were regular challengers for top honours.
They won the division one title in 2004 and 2011 – the latter with an incredible record of 13 wins and one draw from 14 games.
But the past decade has not been kind. Although captain Francis Best and Peter Kitchen remain as survivors of the club’s last title triumph, the past decade has seen several flirtations with relegation, the A team actually being relegated in 2019 while the B team stayed up, and two wooden spoon finishes in the past two years.
So while there were hopes for better fortunes at the start of the season, even the most optimistic of club members would not have dared ream for any more than a mid-table finish.
Happily, those expectations have been met and then beaten. So much so that a first top three finish since 2013 was confirmed on the final day.
This included an unbeaten league record at Nerdy, where Shrewsbury A won one and drew five of their games to amass seven points, while away from home four wins and two defeats secured eight points. The team lost just two of its 12 league matches – an excellent performance.
It was achieved despite several squad members being missing for spells of the season. Kitchen played just once up until March owing to his teacher training commitments, while Smith and Lockett also missed games owing to outside commitments.
In total, 11 players were used over the course of the season. The club was only able to commit to one over-the-board team at the start of the season, but it did mean that reserve players were ready to step in when needed.
The season started in style with an eye-catching 3.5-1.5 win against Oswestry A – a stark contrast from the previous season’s 5-0 whitewash defeat and against a side who appeared to be rivals for fourth place.
The first county town derby of the season followed at Nerdy – and a depleted Shrewsbury side missing Best and Kitchen performed superbly to hold the fancied visitors to a 2.5-2.5 draw.
Another home game followed against Telepost B – and this one was to end in disappointment. Despite holding the edge in a tight match for most of the night, Paul’s defeat to Dan Hilditch-Love in the final game to finish meant another draw and this time the feeling was that the win had got away.
The team’s unbeaten start was ended in their final game before Christmas – the 3.5-1.5 loss at Newport A was a tight match that could have gone either way.
But it was in 2023 that Shrewsbury started to gain some real momentum. Three consecutive home games brought draws against champions-elect Maddocks A and Oswestry A and a 3-2 win over Maddocks B.
Then came perhaps the club’s best result of the season – a come-from-behind 3-2 win in Telepost A’s backyard that saw Paul and Best beat Telepost’s top two Nigel Ferrington and Phil Zabrocki, respectively, in the final two games. The bragging rights were secured, and owing to our eventual higher league finish the town is definitely ours for the next year!
Kitchen made his long-awaited return for the 4.5-0.5 win at Telepost B, before a 4-1 loss at Maddocks A extinguished any faint hopes of mounting an unlikely title bid. Shrewsbury returned to Oakengates two weeks later to secure their only league double of the season with a 3-2 win over Maddocks B and keep their hopes of finishing as runners up alive.
Despite Telepost A’s surprise win over Maddocks A, Shrewsbury knew a result on the final day would secure at least third and a win second. Newport A – the eventual runners up – were stern opposition, but Rob Green’s victory in the final game to finish secured the draw that nailed down third place.
Player records:
Nathanael Paul: 8/10 (80%), Francis Best 6.5/11 (59%), Mark Smith 4/7 (57%), Dan Lockett 4/10 (40%), Stephen Priestley 3/4 (75%), Robert Green 2/3 (67%), Peter Kitchen 2/5 (40%), Ivor Salter 1/4 (25%), Will Apted 0.5/1 (50%), Ian Davies 0/1, Richard Vernon 0/3.
Respectable rapidplay finish
Although Shrewsbury A reached the giddy heights of the top of Shropshire Rapidplay Chess League division one at Christmas, they were soon overhauled by the division’s big guns when they caught up with their games in hand.
The team therefore had to be content with a mid-table finish, unable to keep up with the blistering pace set by the top three. As Maddocks A edged out Newport A and Telepost A to clinch the title, Shrewsbury had to settle for a distant but comfortable fourth place – five wins, three draws and seven defeats from their 15 games, which brought home 13 points.
Nathanael Paul was again top scorer – his record on top board included a fabulous 3/3 in the opening round of fixtures that included wins over Newport’s Nick Rutter and Maddocks’ Athar Ansari.
Player records:
Nathanael Paul 7.5/12 (63%), Francis Best 7/14 (50%), Peter Kitchen 4/9 (44%), Dan Lockett 4/11 (36%), Stephen Priestley 2/3 (67 per cent), Ivor Salter 2/6 (33%), Mark Smith 1/3 (33%), Robert Green 0/2.
Competitive in cyberspace
All three Shrewsbury teams had strong seasons in Shropshire Online Chess League.
The season started amid a slightly acrimonious backdrop – it took a concerted campaign at the county AGM from Shrewsbury’s delegation to ensure the online league season went ahead. Even so, Maddocks didn’t field any teams and Telepost, while fielding a team in division one, chose to focus their energies on the 4NCL Online competition.
Ultimately, Shrewsbury A were unable to perform consistently enough to challenge for the title, which went to Oswestry B. But they did finish runners up for the second successive season, including the honour of finishing above last season’s champions Oswestry A.
This was quite an achievements considering Oswestry’s online teams were boosted by the use of strong players based outside Shropshire – although this did mean that rivalries were renewed with the likes of Brian Whyte, who has moved away to Edinburgh but was able to feature for his former club online.
At the other end of the table, promoted Shrewsbury B often found themselves outgunned but were a tough cookie for all opponents. They picked up two draws against Shrewsbury A, and were able to ensure they finished fourth in the table, consigning an experimental Telepost A side to the wooden spoon.
It was a case of what might have been for Shrewsbury C. Under the guidance of captain Richard Vernon, they put together a strong run in the second half of the season and looked set to claim runners up spot. But a final day defeat to Oswestry C, and Newport A’s surprise win over champions Telford A, dashed those hopes. In the end they were fortunate to hold on to third place in the four-team division as Oswestry C lost their final fixture.
Final thoughts
Owing to the well documented challenges the club is facing, finding a venue and securing our immediate future is the immediate priority.
If and when that is done, we hope to establish a regular weekly club night to help attract more new members. We have been delighted to see the emergence of Robert Green, Richard Vernon and Will Apted in recent years and they have played a key part in the club’s competitive matches over the past two seasons.
It has also been a pleasure to welcome new visitors to the club such as Tosin Akinruli, and hope to see more of him and his chess-playing friends going forwards.
We also hope to welcome back more of our traditional members to play over the board as fears over Covid-19 continue to ease.
The aim will be to field at least two teams over the board in Shropshire Chess League next season to provide more opportunities for people to play competitive games and improve. But we’ll see what the summer holds…