Matt Best’s B Team suffered a blow to their hopes of promotion from the second division with a frustrating 3-2 defeat at home to strugglers Wellington B. Despite having a grading advantage on every board (although admittedly board 5 was slightly dubious, with Wellington’s Rob Nayman only having an ELO rating which is roughly equivalent to an ECF grade of 100), the hosts were left empty-handed when a win would have lifted them clear at the top of the table.
In the first game to finish, Ivor Salter’s commanding position and two-pawn advantage on board 3 dissipating after Colin Mace found some neat resources, leading Ivor’s King position to become rather untenable. Shortly after, however, balance was restored when Mark Smith saw off Nayman on 5, having to work hard in the Sicilian but eventually coming out a clear piece up.
Next up, Daniel Lockett’s comprehensive victory over John Lenton on board 2 gave Shrewsbury the advantage. After blowing open John’s Kingside in the French, Daniel left his opponent with the unpleasant choice of losing his Queen or resignation. He opted for the latter.
That meant that things were perking up for Shrewsbury, only for Matt to blunder in a drawn position to lose against Richard Gillespie on top board, and Norman O’Connor’s seemingly promising position deteriorated against Derrick Powell on 4, leading to defeat and a narrow loss overall.
There was slightly better news, however, the preceding week when wins for Fred Harris and Andrew Lewis rescued a draw for Shrewsbury C against Priorslee Lions C.
Finally, controller Matt Best has published the draw for the second round of the club championship which is available to view on the relevant page on the website. There are still three games from the first round which need completing, and these should take priority over playing round two games. Matt also asks all players to complete their outstanding games by the end of January.
Shrewsbury B 2-3 Wellington B
- M. Best 0-1 R. Gillespie
- D. Lockett 1-0 J. Lenton
- I. Salter 0-1 C. Mace
- N. O’Connor 0-1 D. Powell
- M. Smith 1-0 R. Nayman
Shrewsbury C 2-2 Priorslee Lions C
- I. Davies 0-1 S. O’Dell
- A. Lewis 1-0 A. Shaw
- E. Inglis 0-1 M. Reynolds
- F. Harris 1-0 A. Brannen