Shrewsbury Chess Club has issued an urgent player appeal ahead of Tuesday’s crunch Shropshire Chess League division one clash away to Newport.
The club is struggling to fill all five boards for the match due to a combination of illness, player unavailability and wariness over playing over the board due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Club officials are keen to give someone the chance to play competitive chess at division one level rather than default a board and deprive someone of a match.
An appeal has already been made to the club’s existing players and the net has been cast wider by a call to arms on social media via the club’s Facebook page.
Anyone interested should contact team captain Francis Best by emailing francis.best@gmx.com
Shrewsbury go into the game in desperate need of points to close the gap to the mid-table pack. Best’s side lies two points adrift of Telepost A, Oswestry and Newport but has just two games left to play – both against Newport.
Newport’s Royal British Legion club has not traditionally been a happy hunting ground for Shrewsbury in terms of first team encounters between the two clubs. But Newport – the dominant force of the Shropshire chess scene over the past decade – have themselves had an indifferent season and have lost some key players since the onset of the pandemic.
They do still have one of the county’s strongest players available to call on in the form of top board Nick Rutter, while promising players Daniel Hilditch-Love and Thalia Holmes have enjoyed strong seasons.
After Tuesday’s game, Shrewsbury must wait five-and-a-half week before the return fixture to round off the club’s over-the-board season.
It marks a busy week for the club – with Tuesday in particular a busy night. While the first team travels to Newport, Shrewsbury B will take on Telepost D in division two of Shropshire Online League that night and many club members are also expected to feature in the latest round of matches in the Four Nations Chess League online league.
On Thursday, the C team will play Telepost C in division two of the rapidplay league, while the next club night at the Nerdy Café is due to take place on Friday.