Shrewsbury B booked a place in the semi-finals of the Minor Knockout to set up a town derby with Telepost B as they held off third division outfit Oswestry B.
Matt Best’s team had a significant grading advantage over the boards, and the projected advantage was given to them after Mark Smith’s quick victory over John Molyneux on board 4. Mark, who arrived slightly late, made light of the time deficit by winning two pieces early on in the opening, and built on the advantage to give the hosts the lead.
After that, though, things weren’t anywhere near as straightforward. Norman O’Connor was up the exchange against Euan Stevenson on board 3, but the Oswestry man had significant positional compensation to leave the game in the murky waters of an unclear assessment. On board 2, Daniel Lockett was looking to extend his unbeaten run in league and cup matches to 20 games against Oswestry’s stand-in skipper Jon Smith but had an exposed King and dubious Pawn structure in return for open lines down which to attack. It was top board, though, where the next game to finish was played, where Matt was up against Keith Bacon. Matt went wrong in a rare line of a Bb5 Scandinavian, leading to a passive and cramped position. After surviving a couple of moments when Keith could have grabbed a Pawn, Matt was offered a draw – a quick look at the other games later, he gratefully accepted.
The board count rule used as a tie break when matches are drawn meant that Shrewsbury needed to win the match in order to progress, and so needed a point from the final two games. Armed with that knowledge, Dan started to push hard for an attack in his game on board 2. It looked as though things would be done more simply on board 3, though, as Norman won another exchange to give him two Rooks for a Bishop. After a deft Queen move which should have forced the exchange of Queens, Norman had the opportunity to win the Bishops for one of his Rooks, which would have left him a clear Rook up. However, time pressure led to a miscalculation from Norman, and he made life slightly more difficult for himself than he needed to, although he eventually forced the win thanks to a pair of central passed Pawns. With that game finished and Shrewsbury’s win secure, the players on board 2 settled with a draw, leaving Shrewsbury 3-1 winners.
Shrewsbury B 3-1 Oswestry B
- M. Best ½-½ K. Bacon
- D. Lockett ½-½ J. Smith
- N. O’Connor 1-0 E. Stevenson
- M. Smith 1-0 J. Molyneux