Nathanael Paul was the star player of the night as Shrewsbury A got their Shropshire Rapidplay Chess League division one campaign off to a solid start.
Paul won all three of his games on board one – including the notable scalps of the county’s top and third rated rapidplay players in Newport’s Nick Rutter and Maddocks’ Athar Ansari with the black pieces.
There were plenty of positives as the team picked up one win and suffered two narrow defeats on the opening night of the rapidplay league season at Telford Chess Club.
Captain Francis Best finished the night on 50 per cent on board two, while there was a welcome return to over-the-board action for Ivor Salter for the first time since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. Ivor defeated Roger Brown on bottom board in the 4-0 win over Telford A.
Owing to the club’s current glut of fixtures, Shrewsbury were missing a couple of players but still fielded a strong team.
The night started with the whitewash of Telford A. Shrewsbury went into the match against their old rivals as favourites according to gradings, and there were no surprises as Paul beat Toby Neal, Best overcame Richard Szwajkun on board two, Dan Lockett triumphed over Richard Parry and Salter won against Brown.
But a 3-1 defeat to Newport A brought the team crashing back down to earth. Paul defeated his former teammate Rutter, but Best lost to Ian Jamieson, Lockett was beaten by Chris Lewis and Salter was defeated by Thalia Holmes.
A narrow 2.5-2-1.5 defeat to Maddocks A followed. Paul’s win over Ansari and Best’s draw with Andrew Grillage proved in vain as Shrewsbury lost on the bottom two boards.
Matches were played to a time control of 20 minutes for all moves.
Newport A are the early leaders having won all three of their matches on the night, with Shrewsbury sitting third in the six-team division.
The next round of fixtures will be played at Telepost on December 19.
Full scores:
Telford A 0-4 Shrewsbury A (Shrewsbury white on odds)
1.Toby Neal 0-1 Nathanael Paul
2.Richard Szwajkun 0-1 Francis Best
3.Richard Parry 0-1 Dan Lockett
4.Roger Brown 0-1 Ivor Salter
Shrewsbury A 1-3 Newport A (Newport white on odds)
1.Nathanael Paul 1-0 Nick Rutter
2.Francis Best 0-1 Ian Jamieson
3.Dan Lockett 0-1 Chris Lewis
4.Ivor Salter 0-1 Thalia Holmes
Shrewsbury A 1.5-2.5 Maddocks A (Maddocks white on odds)
1.Nathanael Paul 1-0 Athar Ansari
2.Francis Best 0.5-0.5 Andrew Grillage
3.Dan Lockett 0-1 Tony Preece
4.Ivor Salter 0-1 Glyn Pugh