It’s a while since Shrewsbury’s A team has been in danger of relegation but this season’s shortage of players, coupled with a few results going the wrong way, meant that the A team had to win against Priorslee Lions B on Monday in order to be safe. Although on paper the Shrewsbury team was favourite, Priorslee can punch above their weight and Francis Best’s team was not going to take anything for granted.
Indeed, with only three of the core players available, regular reserves Norman O’Connor and Ian Davies were standing in on boards 4 and 5. Certainly this season, the reserves from other teams have been invaluable in fielding a full side and have done a great job of winning valuable points. This match was no exception.
The first to finish, though, was David Everington on board 2, with a clean win against Marvin Carbin. Meanwhile, on board 3, Peter Kitchen had gone astray early in the opening against Stephen O’Dell and was struggling to maintain equality. On top board, Francis had sacrificed a pawn in return for activity and attacking chances against Gary White’s King. The bottom two boards were looking favourable for Shrewsbury but the night was still young!
On top board, things simplified to a better ending for Francis, a pawn ahead. However, an inaccuracy or two allowed Gary back into the game and eventually the latter could alternately attack a weak b-pawn and d-pawn, forcing a repetition of position and consequent draw. Meanwhile on board 3, Peter was relieved to agree a draw, leaving Shrewsbury one point ahead with two games to finish.
On board 5, Ian Davies was enjoying a significant material advantage, with Alan Brannen’s King also on a bit of a march up the board. Soon, Ian was faced with a selection of checkmates on the move and gave his team mates a bit of a fright when eschewing all of them. Afterwards, he explained that he was set upon executing the move Ng1 mate – which followed on the next move, much to the Shrewsbury players’ relief.
The match was now won but Norman’s position was also looking promising against Michael Reynolds and of, course, game points can also be significant in the final standings, not to mention the matter of personal pride. Norman had two pieces for his opponent’s rook, although he was faced with a dangerous looking advanced passed pawn which complicated matters. However, Norman skilfully neutralised the passed pawn, capturing it for a winning endgame advantage. Shortly after, Michael left his rook open to a winning knight fork for Norman, which the latter duly took advantage of and Shrewsbury won the match 4-1, lifting them safely clear of the relegation zone.
The B team, too, found themselves mathematically safe without even playing after Ludlow’s victory over Newport B meant it is impossible for both Telepost B and Newport B to overtake Shrewsbury B. It lifted some of the pressure ahead of their trip to Wellington B and it was a good job too – Wellington’s use of “ringer” Nazif Nazif (one of the county’s top 10 graded players and turns out for Telford A in the first division) for their last few games was accompanied by the less controversial, but no less helpful addition of Tiago Faustino on board 2. Faustino, who enjoyed a superb run of games for Church Stretton a couple of years ago which resulted in a grade of 174, has returned from the wilderness after spending the in-between period away from the county’s chess scene, and did so with a bang, first impressing in the Rapidplay League before seeing off David Everington last week for Wellington A.
It was, therefore, a tough challenge for Shrewsbury to avenge their 3-2 defeat against the same opponents from earlier in the season. Leading by example, captain Matt Best played inaccurately on top board against Nazif’s deployment of the unsound Falkbeer, leading to a lost position early on. The tough task just got a whole lot tougher, and the deficit was doubled after Norman O’Connor’s attempted Knight manoeuvre against Richard Gillespie on board 3 backfired, leading to a position where he had no way to save the both the Knight and his Queen. 2-0.
The remaining players, though, put up a credible fight. Mark Smith found himself a Piece up against John Lenton on board 4 after the latter’s oversight, although Lenton had a Pawn in return. Mark was slightly too impatient with his play, allowing John too much counterplay and the opportunity to win back a second Pawn, which he duly took. The pressure mounted, but it was still a win for Mark with best play. However, John used all his experience to claw back drawing chances, swapping off Pawns and taking advantage of Mark’s ill-advised Queenside Pawn advances to lock the Pawn structure and render Mark’s Bishop almost useless. The resultant position was left as a dead draw, meaning Shrewsbury needed to win on both remaining boards to avoid defeat.
Alas, it was not to be. Although Daniel Lockett’s 18th straight club match without defeat (which stretches to 22 [or 23, depending on exact dates!] if Club Championship games are counted as well as League and Cup matches) was an immensely creditable – and spectacular – draw against Tiago, it wasn’t enough to save the match. After Daniel found himself fairly cramped in the opening (not just because of the small tables), he sacrificed a Pawn to try and create some space. In short, it didn’t really work as Tiago built up a commanding position. Daniel, though, displayed the panache that only an in-form player can call upon as he found a spectacular piece sacrifice, whilst running dangerously short on time, that allowed his Queen into Tiago’s position with devastating consequences for Tiago’s Pawns, of which Daniel gobbled up 5 – taking the material balance to three Pawns for the Piece. It was, in fact, a winning ending for Daniel had he found the correct moves earlier on. Unfortunately, though, his lack of time (he had around 3 minutes to Tiago’s three-quarters of an hour) meant he had to blitz the finish, and it was to his credit that he held the draw in a double-edged ending.
There was, at least, a consolation victory for Shrewsbury as Ivor Salter secured a nice win over Derrick Powell on bottom board. After learning that the match was lost, Ivor offered a draw. Derrick, however, declined – despite the position seeming level and the match being safe. Derrick proceeded to trade Rooks, which allowed Ivor to liquidate into a simple win in the King and Pawn ending.
Shrewsbury A 4-1 Priorslee Lions B
- F. Best ½-½ G. White
- D. Everington 1-0 M. Carbin
- P. Kitchen ½-½ S. O’Dell
- N. O’Connor 1-0 M. Reynolds
- I. Davies 1-0 Alan Brannen
Shrewsbury B 2-3 Wellington B
- M. Best 0-1 N. Nazif
- D. Lockett ½-½ T. Faustino
- N. O’Connor 0-1 R. Gillespie
- M. Smith ½-½ J. Lenton
- I. Salter 1-0 D. Powell