Francis Best, A team captain writes:
“This season promises to be a tough one with all teams able to hold their own and none by any means being a pushover. Tough it proved to be, as we lined up against Priorslee Lions A in our opening match of the season. I was white against Adrian Zdanowski and, for what seemed like the umpteenth time recently, we went down a variation of the Pirc in which Black plays an early …c5. The books say the particular line is not supposed to be good for Black, but it seems to have served Adrian well and it did on this occasion too, as I, yet again, failed to find the best line and dropped a pawn out of the opening and lost the game inevitably after that. Never mind: if I carry on in this vein, my rating will continue to tumble and I can eventually play on a lower board!
Peter lost against the ever tricky Glyn Pugh in a fashionable line of the French Tarrasch, in which Black (Pugh) played an early h6. Black achieved an overpowering pawn centre which could advance, leaving white with very little counterplay. Black won after 33 moves.
In the meantime, David Everington was facing Steve Tarr’s London system on board 2. In a model of how to strike with counterplay using queen-side pressure, David chalked up a nice victory and you can play through the game here. On board 4, Mark Smith drew against Munro Morrison in a closed Sicilian. This game is also featured here.
At a couple of points I glanced at Ian Davies’ game against Gary White on board 5 and thought Ian was doing well. However, things didn’t go Ian’s way and eventually he lost that game too, unfortunately.
Still, the season is young, and there’s plenty of time to redress the balance!”
| Priorslee Lions A | Shrewsbury A | |
| Adrian Zdanowksi | 1-0 | Francis Best |
| Steve Tarr | 0-1 | David Everington |
| Glyn Pugh | 1-0 | Peter Kitchen |
| Munro Morrison | ½-½ | Mark Smith |
| Gary White | 1-0 | Ian Davies |
| 3½-1½ |