Author: Francis Best

Having beaten Newport’s B team at our last fixture, we knew that their A team would provide a sterner test on Friday 11th.  We had the services of Ed Goodwin on top board and Matt Best on board 4, so had a pretty reasonable team ourselves.  First of all, here are Matt’s comments about his… Continue reading A Team Shares Spoils with Newport A

Alan Bliss, a long standing member of Shrewsbury Chess Club, died recently.  At his funeral, Fred Harris gave the following address: “We at Shrewsbury Chess Club would like to say a few words about Alan Bliss who for a few years was our President. I knew him over a period of about twenty five years.… Continue reading In memoriam: Alan Bliss

Shrewsbury B team enjoyed a memorable evening in Telford against their A team last Wednesday. Telford fielded a strong side, Richard Thompson being rested, without any detriment to their grading. For a change there were no quick finishes and all of the games held some interest. On board 5, Tony Purser was making his first… Continue reading A Plus for B Team!

Shrewsbury B faced their first home challenge of the season against Telford B on Friday (7 October). ECF gradings would have made Shrewsbury favourites before play began and the early exchanges seemed to confirm this. On board 1, Ile was engaged in a sharp struggle with Richard Szwajkun, both sides moving quickly. On board 2,… Continue reading Shrewsbury Wins Battle of the B’s

Friday 30th September saw the A team’s second clash occur at home against Oswestry A.  Oswestry were missing their usual board 1, Brian Whyte, but Shrewsbury were also missing our usual board 1, Jamie Hopkins.  Both teams were on zero match points prior to this clash; Shrewsbury because we had lost to Ludlow and Oswestry… Continue reading A Team off the Blocks

Our first fixture of the season was against Ludlow A, newly promoted from Division 2, and we had no illusion that they were a team to be reckoned with.  With the news that the A49 was going to be closed from 8pm, I also knew that we would be looking at a late night, whatever… Continue reading A Team’s Start of the Season Disappointment

Shrewsbury B faced a daunting challenge in their season’s opener: Wellington A away!  With the exception of Norman on board 5, everybody was out-graded by some margin. Two of the games were done and dusted quite quickly. On board 3, Peter Kitchen disposed of Toby Neal in swashbuckling style in the space of half an… Continue reading B Team Faces Stern Test

Shrewsbury chess club got off to its usual unofficial launch to the season with our traditional (after a break of a couple of years) friendly versus Telepost. As is usual, there were a couple of free transfers to even up the numbers with Peter Crean and Martin Ayres honorary Shrewsbury members for the evening.  As… Continue reading Pre-Season Friendly Ends in Honours Even

Shrewsbury B missed out on promotion to the first Division and a possible title against the odds in agonising fashion in the final game of the Division 2 season. Having led the field for almost all the season, Telepost B denied Ian Davies’ side a famous season with a hard-fought win in the final game,… Continue reading B Team’s Promotion Hopes Dashed – But a Fine Season’s Performance

The B team has moved towards touching distance of promotion to Division 1 after our 4.5-0.5 win over already relegated Church Stretton B. We are now 3 points clear of our 2 nearest rivals with 2 matches left.  A forgone conclusion you might think, yet it could still all go horribly wrong (forever the optimist!)… Continue reading So Near, Yet…