Nathanael Paul and Stephen Priestley have been named as the joint winners of Shrewsbury Chess club Championship – after a three-way playoff to decide yet another fiercely-contested tournament.
The pair both scored 1.5/2 in the playoff, drawing with each other and both defeating fellow finalist Dan Lockett, writes Peter Kitchen.
The pair will share the trophy for six months each, and were presented with it at a recent ceremony at a club night at Albert & Co @ Frankville.
All three players had scored 4/5 during the regular tournament, with long-time leader and top seed Paul caught by Priestley and Lockett in the final round. Paul drew with the white pieces with deposed champion Francis Best in an over-the-board match, while Priestley beat Norman O’Conor with black and Lockett won against Peter Kitchen with white in online games.
In the all-online playoffs, Paul did much of the pressing with the white pieces against Priestley with two bishops versus two knights in the middlegame. But a tactical operation from Priestley in the centre saw one set of minor pieces come off, and in recovering his temporarily lost pawn Paul could only reach a level ending with reduced material.
A draw offer from Priestley was turned down on move 48 as Paul tried to make his bishop superior to his opponent’s knight, but only the kings remained when the game concluded on move 62.
Priestley had the white pieces against Lockett and a tense position arose from a Bird’s Opening. But a tactical error on move 20 saw Lockett lose material and resignation came on move 29.
It didn’t get any better for Lockett against Paul, as an experimental set up against the Dutch went wrong and Paul delivered checkmate on move 18.
It marks the end of a hugely successful season for Paul, who also won the Shropshire County Individual earlier this year and became the county’s highest rated player.
Nat also recently won the major section at Warwickshire Blitz, scoring a hugely impressive 11.5/14.
Other club members have also enjoyed success in individual competitions. Robert Green came agonisingly close to a fairytale triumph in Shropshire Minor Individual – only to miss out in a two-round playoff to eventual winner James Holyhead of Telepost.
Despite defeating Holyhead in the tournament proper en route to an unbeaten 6/7, Green finished the tournament level with the Telepost player – and Holyhead went into the playoff with the superior tiebreak, meaning one win for him would be enough.
Holyhead duly won the first tiebreak game, but sportingly agreed to waive his tiebreak advantage and play the second game. He also won that clash to be a deserving champion – but Green deserves a lot of credit for a superb tournament and a very consistent level of performance.
The club’s AGM was held last week on Zoom and minutes will be available for members in the near future.