Shrewsbury A’s bid for third place was given a significant boost by a victory in a rearranged fixture over rivals Priorslee Lions A. With neither side in danger of relegation but equally, with no prospect of challenging for top honours, the players could be more relaxed in enjoying the chess for its own sake.
Daniel Lockett was the first to register a victory for the home side. Andy Tunks dropped a piece in the opening and could find no way back. He resigned shortly afterwards.
David Everington was out for revenge in his game against Steve Tarr on board 3 having suffered a somewhat unfortunate defeat in the reverse fixture. The game started cagily, with neither player opening up the position too much, before pieces were swapped off and the game hotted up. David had the benefit of a more active rook pair, and it told as he wiped out Steve’s Kingside pawns before forcing a mate threat, at which point Steve resigned.
On board 5, Mark Smith, who was playing up from his usual Shrewsbury B team slot, engineered a nice position against the ever-dangerous Gary White, who has had a successful performance this season in both divisions one and two. Eventually the pressure told and Gary resigned when his exposed King’s position collapsed. The home team had therefore won the match but…there is always pride at stake!
On top board, Jamie Hopkins for the home side had picked up the gauntlet thrown down by Priorslee Lions player William Bates, by capturing the latter’s b2 pawn with his queen. Such a pawn is often dubbed “a poisoned pawn” and with good reason. Soon it was apparent that the visitor had good compensation for the pawn sacrificed and Black’s King was stuck in the middle of the board. Bates continued to press, opening up lines, and things looked grim in Hopkins’ position. As is often the case, however, just putting the final nail in the coffin proved elusive, and after a couple of inaccuracies towards the end of the game, Bates was happy to settle for a perpetual check, having by this stage sacrificed a rook for what should have been an unstoppable attack.
On board 2, Glyn Pugh for the Lions had responded to Francis Best’s 1.e4 with a French Defence. Best followed one of his favourite sidelines and the position developed quietly for twenty moves or so, when a slight inaccuracy by Black, gave him the opportunity to build a slight initiative. A few moves later, Pugh overlooked a tactic, allowing his opponent to win two minor pieces for a rook. White also had the bishop pair, so another win for Shrewsbury looked within reach.
However, on move 34 Best dissipated much of his advantage and, shortly afterwards, repaid the favour to his opponent by losing back two minor pieces, also dropping a key pawn in the process. Now it was Priorslee Lions who were looking for their consolatory win of the evening. With Black’s c-pawn advancing up the board and both queens still present, it was clear that the only drawing chance for White was counterplay against the Black King. Unfortunately for the visitors, the win was not to be. With time starting to run short for both players, Pugh responded to a check by choosing the wrong square to move his King to. On the face of it, there was little difference between two alternatives but the other would have led to a swift checkmate (easily spotted with hindsight and the aid of a computer but much harder in practical play over the board). As it was, Best was able to win the advanced pawn by keeping his own mating threats open and the players soon agreed a draw. An exciting finish to the evening!