With the 2013-14 league season now officially completed, Shrewsbury’s A and B teams looked to build upon their successful campaigns with a good showing in this year’s Minor Knockout competition. The B team were up against Third Division outfit Telepost D, and the C team faced a challenging game against Telepost B, looking to draw inspiration from last year’s surprise victory over a strong Priorslee Lions B side.
The B team were one up before any Pawns had been pushed, as Telepost had only been able to field 3 players for the re-arranged fixture. After some hasty discussions and checking up on Summer grades, Dan Lockett volunteered to take the default as he had an early start the next morning. There were a few nervy moments when it looked as though captain Matt Best might hand the point straight back after a blunder on top board against Shane Sweeney, overlooking a combination that saw him the exchange for a Pawn down. However, Matt began to create counterplay, and the task was made easier by Shane reciprocating the oversight by dropping his Queen for a piece, and Matt was able to convert the advantage to make it 2-0.
Shortly after, the match was wrapped up with Ivor Salter’s win over Dean Pinnington on board 2. Ivor deployed the explosive Morra Gambit in response to Dean’s Sicilian, and was able to generate sufficient counterplay with a dangerous Kingside attack, resulting in his winning material. Once he had the edge, Ivor didn’t let it go, and he calmly converted the position to set up a quarter final against Oswestry B. There was still one game to be played, though, as Norman O’Connor faced Nick Holmes on board 3. A lengthy struggle led to a level endgame, but Norman’s time deficit meant that he was unable to hold the position.
The C team, though, were unable to make it 2/2 for Shrewsbury in the quarter finals, as last year’s heroics weren’t repeated. After Ian Davies found himself in a passive position on top board against John Bashall, his position fell apart pretty rapidly to put the visitors in front, and they found themselves on the cusp of the next round after Quentin Mills’ dynamic attack broke through Heath Pearson’s defences on board 4. For a while, though, it appeared as though an unlikely fightback could be on. Andrew Lewis won the exchange for a Pawn early on against Peter Crean and, with Peter’s position tied up to the defence of his hanging central Pawns, missed the opportunity to win a piece and go a clear Rook up. Unfortunately, on the very same move Andrew opted instead for another tactical combination – utilising the same pin as before – but overlooked a crucial zwischenzug which allowed Peter to win back the exchange and lift much of the pressure on his central Pawns. Although Andrew battled on, his position and lack of time became untenable, and eventually Peter got the win required to seal the match. There was, at least, a bright spot with Tony Purser concluding his impressive season with a draw against Charles Micallef in a double-edged match on board 3.
Shrewsbury B 3-1 Telepost D
- M. Best 1-0 S. Sweeney
- I. Salter 1-0 D. Pinnington
- N. O’Connor 0-1 N. Holmes
- D. Lockett 1-0 Default
Shrewsbury C ½-3½ Telepost B
- I. Davies 0-1 J. Bashall
- A. Lewis 0-1 P. Crean
- A. Purser ½-½ C. Micallef
- H. Pearson 0-1 Q. Mills