Robert Green and Ian Davies sprang surprises by clinching results against higher-rated players in the opening round of Shrewsbury Club Championship.
Green beat Ivor Salter with the black pieces, while Davies produced a solid, stubborn display on the white side of a Colle to hold first team player Peter Kitchen to a draw. Top seed Nathanael Paul was also given a huge fright by Norman O’Connor before winning on time.
While the remainder of the first round ties went with the form book, the results are a sign of just how competitive the club championship is and how ratings mean very little when club players face each other, writes Peter Kitchen.
Some tasty ties have also been thrown up for round two, where no doubt there will be more opportunities for upsets.
In his game, Green secured a level position out of the opening and Salter mistakenly allowed his opponent’s d-pawn to penetrate deep into his position. Green’s knight was significantly stronger than Salter’s light-squared bishop, netting him a pawn and then a piece before Salter resigned in a hopeless position on move 37.
Meanwhile, Davies surprised Kitchen on the opening move by playing 1.d4, and after Kitchen avoided the main lines an equal looking middlegame was reached.
Short of active play, Kitchen started to advance and seize space on the queenside and gradually pushed his opponent backwards – albeit at a cost of falling 15 minutes behind on the clock. But despite coming under pressure, Davies continued to hold firm.
A bizarre stoppage came on move 27 as both players realised the increment wasn’t working on their clocks. But the delay seemed to halt Kitchen’s momentum – he had just moved ahead on the clock but then slipped behind again after the stoppage – and after passing up the chance for an active …e5 advance he couldn’t find his way beyond Davies’s defences. The draw was agreed on move 33.
Elsewhere, Paul stumbled into a completely lost position against the veteran O’Connor after barely 18 moves. He made little progress, and was still losing with a queen against two rooks and a knight in the final position when O’Connor unfortunately lost on time.
Defending champion Francis Best eased his way to victory against tournament controller, capping a solid positional display by winning an exchange on move 25 and the game on move 40. Stephen Priestley won as black against Richard Vernon, and Dan Lockett won a pawn early on with the black pieces against Will Apted and converted it to victory.
Mark Smith was awarded a full point bye after opponent Robin Nayman withdrew.
The Lockett v Apted and Davies v Kitchen ties were played over the board, with the rest online.
Round two will see the in-form Priestley have the white pieces against Paul, while Green’s reward is a daunting-looking tie with white against reigning champion Best.
There is also an all-first team tie between Kitchen and Smith, while Davies will look to upset another A team player when he has the black pieces against Lockett.
The full draw can be seen here.