Shrewsbury B moved themselves into the top half of the second division table with a second consecutive victory.
Matt Best’s side were away to Shifnal and Telford C, and, with the knowledge that both Ludlow and Telepost C had lost recently, knew a victory would be sufficient to propel them into 4th position.
They were helped by the return of Mark Smith on top board after he had missed the previous three matches, and he got the match up and running with a relatively quick draw against Richard Szwajkun in a double edged Scandinavian.
Ivor Salter’s position was looking promising on board two – another Scandinavian, and his opponent Tim Skidmore had dropped a piece early on allowing Ivor to assert control on the game.
Ian Davies was standing in on board 5 against Brian Malone, and after riding out a slightly awkward start as White against the Benoni, he managed to manufacture a superior position with a lethal trio of central pawns, before his opponent dropped the exchange. The Queens were exchanged shortly after, and Ian managed to secure the victory to give Shrewsbury the edge.
The two captains went head to head on board 4, with Matt Best picking up an early pawn against Steve Szwajkun, only to give it back, leading a position which looked level. However, a seemingly innocuous Queen move (see diagram – answer at the bottom) from Best led to a won position, thus securing at least a draw.
Both points were secure when Norman O’Connor and Andy Jones shared the spoils in a tactical battle on board three, before Ivor was finally able to add the icing on the cake with a win after forcing through a passed pawn on the Kingside to go along with his extra knight.
The previous week saw Shrewsbury C’s promotion hopes suffer a blow after losing away to pace-setters Newport D. Captain Ian Davies lost to the in-form Richard Szwajkun whilst Tony Purser lost on board 4 to his youthful opponent, meaning another win for Andy Lewis and a creditable draw for Eric Inglis were insufficient to gain anything.
Shrewsbury B 4-1 Shifnal and Telford C
- M. Smith 0.5-0.5 R. Szwajkun
- I. Salter 1-0 T. Skidmore
- N. O’Connor 0.5-0.5 A. Jones
- M. Best 1-0 S. Szwajkun
- I. Davies 1-0 B. Malone
Shrewsbury C 1.5-2.5 Newport D
- I. Davies 0-1 R. Szwajkun
- A. Lewis 1-0 S. Szwajkun
- E. Inglis 0.5-0.5 S. Cooper
- T. Purser 0-1 L. Clarke
**Solution – Either Qb7 or Qa8 win on the spot for Black. In the actual game, Qb7 was played.