Shrewsbury’s highest-rated player Nathanael Paul was the top county finisher at Shropshire Chess Congress.
Nathanael finished the tournament in seventh place in the Open category with 3/5, winning both of his games with the white pieces and drawing two and losing one – to eventual winner FM Jonathan Blackburn – with black, writes Peter Kitchen.
He only finished below international master John Cox on tie break, and made sure he bettered his eighth place seeding by drawing with fifth seed Jim Burnett (rated 2158 ECF) in the final round. His game with Blackburn was also broadcast on the live boards arranged by the organisers for the top two boards for each section in every round.
It is not yet clear whether Nat will be bestowed a title or a trophy for his efforts – but all at the club offer their congratulations on a fine performance.
Nat’s efforts were the highlight of a competitive showing from the three club members who competed at the weekend congress, which was held at Wrekin Housing Group’s headquarters in Telford.
Francis Best enjoyed a strong tournament and, despite being the victim of an upset in round two against tournament surprise package Chris Hankey, he went into the final round with an outside chance of a grading prize in the Major section.
He enjoyed the better of his final round game against old adversary Richard Bryant of Oswestry – and looked on course to repeat his victory over the same opponent in a league fixture earlier this season.
But a late blunder cost him the game, and left him in 17th place out of 40 on 2.5/5 – which perhaps didn’t reflect how well he played over the weekend.
Remarkably, Francis played four Shropshire-based players over his five games – beating Newport’s Thalia Holmes in round one and Maddocks’ Tony Preece in round three with black, drawing with Glyn Pugh of Maddocks with the white pieces in round four and losing to Bryant with black.
Ivor Salter endured a tough weekend in the Intermediate category. He lost his first three games, but got on the board on the Sunday morning with a draw with the white pieces against Victor Brown of Walsall Kipping in round four. He sat out the final round.
Full results of Shrewsbury players (ECF grades in brackets):
Open:
1. Robert Stern (1955) 0.5-0.5 Nathanael Paul (2124)
2. Nathanael Paul (2124) 1-0 Graham Bolt (2012)
3. Jonathan Blackburn FM (2273) 1-0 Nathanael Paul (2124)
4. Nathanael Paul (2124) 1-0 Roger de Coverly (2006)
5. Jim Burnett (2158) 0.5-0.5 Nathanael Paul (2124)
Major:
1. Thalia Holmes (1785) 0-1 Francis Best (1875)
2. Francis Best (1875) 0-1 Chris Hankey (1758)
3. Tony Preece (1827) 0-1 Francis Best (1875)
4. Francis Best (1875) 0.5-0.5 Glyn Pugh (1927)
5. Richard Bryant (1934) 1-0 Francis Best (1875)
Intermediate:
1. Michael Maher (1680) 1-0 Ivor Salter (1559)
2. Ivor Salter (1559) 0-1 Matthew Aitken (ug)
3. Jay Beddeley (1544) 1-0 Ivor Salter (1559)
4. Ivor Salter (1559) 0.5-0.5 Victor Brown (1524)
Full congress results are available at www.shropshirechess.org
Well done to all three players for a fine effort over the weekend.