Shrewsbury B just missed out on a positive result after some enthralling games saw Newport B see off Matt Best’s side 3.5-1.5.
Shrewsbury were without Norman O’Connor, whose steady performances and return of 50% have been invaluable so far this season, so Matt opted to call upon C Team pair Ian Davies and Andrew Lewis to play on boards 4 and 5.
The match got off on a positive footing, when the top board match between Mark Smith and Danny Griffiths finished with a somewhat quick draw. Meanwhile, on board 2, Ivor Salter’s habitual Scandinavian was replied to by Chris Lewis with 2…e5 – not a regular response. The game went off, transposing into a sort of Sicilian, with Chris having given up a pawn in order to open up more space.
On board three, Matt was up against Stuart Ross. After starting out with a standard Grand Prix in response to Stuart’s Sicilian, Matt quickly went down the unorthodox route. His decision to push his pawn up to e5 early on – almost certainly not sound – threw Stuart somewhat and meant that opening books were thrown straight out the window.
Board four saw Ian take on Jonathan Newey, one of the county’s form players and prizewinner at the recent Shropshire congress. After responding to Jonathan’s e4 with his customary French, Ian built a steady position before Jonathan opted to sacrifice (completely unsoundly, according to Fritz!) rather than retreat and play slowly. The result was a fantastic game (check it out on the interesting games page) – Jonathan decided to then “sacrifice” another piece – an oversight of some devilish tactics involving a trap and a certain rather valuable piece forced Jonathan’s hand.
On board 5, Andrew was up against Chris Paul. After a steady opening, Andrew offered the draw which Chris was on the point of accepting, before noticing that Jonathan was (at this point, anyway!) losing, with Matt also finding himself a pawn up on board three. In the knowledge that a draw would leave Newport needing a result on either board three or four, Chris opted to play on and was rewarded when Andrew dropped his Queen.
The see-saw clash on board four was finally settled, when Ian opted to give some material back rather than allow Jonathan some counterplay by conceding the open e-file, before dropping another piece for two pawns. Although Ian thought he may have salvaged a draw by perpetual check, Jonathan’s King had an escape square, so Ian resigned.
That meant that both Matt and Ivor had to win. Although Matt managed to force through his extra pawn, Ivor found himself up against it and down material. His position finally crumbled, sealing the win for the promotion-chasing hosts.
***
There was, however, better news for Shrewsbury C. They thrashed Telepost D 4-0 away earlier in the week, meaning an aggregate score of 8-0 against them this season. With teams around them dropping points like they’re going out of fashion over the previous couple of weeks, the promotion bid is well and truly on!
Shrewsbury B 1.5-3.5 Newport B
- M. Smith 0.5-0.5 D. Griffiths
- I. Salter 0-1 C. Lewis
- M. Best 1-0 S. Ross
- I. Davies 0-1 J. Newey
- A. Lewis 0-1 C. Paul
Shrewsbury C 4-0 Telepost D
- A. Lewis 1-0 S. Sweeney
- I. Davies 1-0 A. Cliff
- E. Inglis 1-0 K. Walker
- T. Purser 1-0 D. Pinnington