Shrewsbury came from behind to win the Shropshire Chess League town derby against Telepost A and move off the foot of the division one table.
Shrewsbury’s first over-the-board win of the season was secured against an admittedly weakened Telepost line up thanks to victories for Francis Best, Mark Smith and Dan Lockett.
Fred Bench had given Telepost an early lead with a 21-move win using the Morra Gambit against Robin Nayman on bottom board.
But Smith defeated Nick Holmes on board three to equalise and Best put on probably the performance of the night to beat opposing captain Matthew Clark on board two.
Lockett completed the turnaround by beating Dennis Bonner on board four, meaning Nigel Ferrington’s win over Peter Kitchen in a three-hour, 70-move game on top board was no more than a consolation.
The result leaves Telepost A bottom of the early table, still looking for their first points of the season.
But it marked a second win in the space of a week for Shrewsbury, as the club’s A team also triumphed in the online league on Thursday.
Many of the boards went with the grading “form guide”, with Telepost winning the top and bottom boards where they were considered favourites and Shrewsbury cashing in where they had a rating advantage on boards three and four.
This meant the board two encounter between the closely-matched captains Best (rated 1851 ECF) and Clark (1859 ECF) had the potential to be pivotal – and so it proved.
Best, with the white pieces, chose the positional d3 system in the Ruy Lopez. But the game soon became very lively, with Clark’s queenside offensive matched by Best establishing a strong rook on d5 in the centre of the board.
When the game opened up, the tactics favoured Best and the game was swiftly decided in his favour. The game can be played through here.
Elsewhere, Smith enjoyed much the better of the opening stages on board three and was swiftly an exchange up against Holmes, which he converted to victory. Lockett won a pawn early on against Bonner on board four and missed an opportunity to grab further material but was still able to see the game out.
On top board Kitchen – on the black side of an Exchange Queen’s Gambit Declined – put up stiff resistance against Ferrington, who is currently Shropshire’s highest-rated player and enjoyed a 340-point grading advantage in this match. But ultimately the Shrewsbury man had too many weak pawns in a rook ending and slipped to his third league defeat in a row, all of which have gone the distance.
It was a tough night for Nayman, playing only his second league match for Shrewsbury, but he was full of praise for his opponent’s play and will hope to learn from the experience.
Shrewsbury’s first-teamers will face another town derby against Telepost A on Tuesday next week, this time online. They will hopefully resume their over-the-board campaign – Covid restrictions permitting – in the new year.
Full scores:
Shrewsbury 3-2 Telepost A (played at Telepost)
1. Peter Kitchen (b) 0-1 Nigel Ferrington
2. Francis Best (w) 1-0 Matthew Clark
3. Mark Smith (b) 1-0 Nick Holmes
4. Dan Lockett (w) 1-0 Dennis Bonner
5. Robin Nayman (b) 0-1 Fred Bench