A professional performance saw Shrewsbury A clinch victory over town rivals Telepost A to pick up their first Shropshire Online Chess League division one triumph of the season.
Shrewsbury went into the rearranged game as heavy favourites on gradings over an experimental Telepost side, writes Peter Kitchen. But despite a rating advantage of at least 300 points on every board, they were made to work hard by their spirited opponents before eventually securing a narrow 2.5-1.5 victory.
Dan Lockett gave Shrewsbury the lead with a swift win in just 22 moves with the black pieces against Martin Ayres on bottom board.
But Nathanael Paul suffered an off night to lose against Matthew Clark on top board to level the scores.
A measured win for Peter Kitchen over Matthew Ryan on board three restored Shrewsbury’s lead, and it turned out to be the winner.
Captain Francis Best secured the draw needed to see his side over the line by sharing the spoils with Cesar Pileggi on board two. Best was a pawn up in a rook and pawn ending, but took no chances with the match on the line.
Shrewsbury had made one change from the 1.5-.1.5 draw with clubmates Shrewsbury B, with Dan Lockett coming back into the side to make a full complement of four players – and a full-strength side to boot.
Having entered two teams in the national 4NCL Online competition for the first time this season, Telepost do not appear to be placing as much emphasis on the local online league. They had been unable to raise a side for the original fixture a week earlier, and their team featured a number of relatively new members no doubt keen to get valuable experience playing higher rated players.
It was Lockett who got the ball rolling for Shrewsbury. Both players made inaccuracies out of the opening, but despite having two knights against two bishops, Lockett was able to lock down the d3 square, forcing further mistakes from his opponent who swiftly resigned.
On top board, Paul – on the white side of a Torre Attack – made an overly-optimistic attempt to break in the centre with e4 and soon found himself a pawn down. He continued to attack, but Clark unleashed a fine temporary exchange sacrifice that swiftly netted a piece and decided the game.
Following an early exchange of queens on board three, Kitchen found himself facing a charge of e and f pawns flying down the board from Ryan, attempting to nullify Kitchen’s g2 bishop. But the advanced pawns left spaces behind them, and Kitchen soon won a pawn and found himself with two bishops versus two knights.
Ryan gamely tried to open lines to create opportunities on the queenside, but Kitchen secured a passed c-pawn and won an exchange, with resignation coming on move 32.
On board two, Best struggled to make headway against a determined Pileggi, with the game reaching an equal-looking rook and knight ending with five pawns each. But a slight inaccuracy from the Telepost player allowed Best to enter a rook ending a pawn up. Although he had chances to perhaps try and push for the full point, Best – aware of the match situation – settled for the draw he needed to secure the match.
The A team’s next online fixture will be against Oswestry B on December 12.
Full scores:
Telepost A 1.5-2.5 Shrewsbury A (Shrewsbury colours in brackets)
1.Matthew Clark 1-0 Nathanael Paul (w)
2.Cesar Pileggi 0.5-0.5 Francis Best (b)
3.Matthew Ryan 0-1 Peter Kitchen (w)
4.Martin Ayres 0-1 Dan Lockett (b)