Shrewsbury B team’s match with Church Stretton A could reasonably be called lively, not just for chess reasons. As some of us knew, Church Stretton were forced to change venue recently, due to the closure of the club where they used to play. The new venue, the Bucks Head, is a nice pub with a lively atmosphere. The first drama of the evening occurred when I got a phone call off Ted. He and Ivor were outside the old venue which was obviously closed; I thought Ivor knew! At least there was no damage done, as Stretton is a small place and they weren’t far away. The second drama unfolded when it became clear that the pub landlord and landlady were not expecting chess players that night and that the room they normally use was already occupied by the bridge club – oops! They were really nice, however, but the best they could offer us was to play in the dining room; very decent of them and normally not too disruptive but it appeared that the WI were having a meal there! This meant that there was quite a lot of extraneous noise, especially on boards 4 and 5 who were closest to the (very nice) ladies. It was also a bit cramped but probably no worse than a couple of other venues.
Anyway onto the chess! Apologies, but I didn’t see much of the opening play on boards 4 and 5. This was partly because it was difficult to move about (this became easier as diners left the restaurant and it got less crowded), but more because I was up against Trevor Brotherton and trying to play the opening properly. My record against Trevor is perfect in the sense that I have lost all my games against him (4 before this one I think). The strange thing is that in all our games (apart from the debacle earlier this season) I’ve had ok positions and the game has gone almost to the wire each time. This time I played 1.e4 as usual and Trevor played 1…Nc6 (Nimzovitch). After 2. Nf3 ; d6, however, the position transposed to a Modern Defence. Once again, I thought I was doing ok. Board 2 saw Ivor take on David Hodge with Black, a serious test for him. Play followed one of Ivor’s favourite lines, a Scandinavian, with 2…Nf6; a sharp, interesting position arose.
On board 3 Ian Davies had White against Steve Chadaway: another Scandinavian but this time the line with 2…Qxd5 and 3…Qd6 that he had played against me earlier in the season. Ian played more aggressively than I had (it can happen!) and again we had a sharp game with chances on both sides.
I missed the opening in game four but when I risked a quick look after about half an hour’s play. The players were Graham Shepherd and Tony Purser; it looked like a cagey affair to me, which suits Tony’s game, so I was pleased to see it.
In contrast, on board 5, it already seemed to be all over, for Black, as our newest recruit and secret weapon, Ted Eales, had already cut a swathe through Chris Pimm Jones’s position and appeared to be totally won. Chris had played something resembling a Modern but his position was cramped, he hadn’t castled and many of his pieces were on their starting squares: not good.
Back on board 1 I was having to think very hard about what to do. I had an idea: leave the King in the centre and exchange bishops on g7. Trevor agreed that this looked good, maybe very advantageous for me. Having looked at the game since, I think it was perhaps slightly advantageous but definitely better than what I played, which was to castle Kingside, which gave up any chance of an attack and I felt the prospect of the Brotherton grind looming. Board 5 finished in short order, as Ted broke through in the centre in classic style: nice one Ted!
Board 4 finished fairly quickly too. The game was balanced and still full of possibilities but I think both players were finding the conditions rather trying; they were the closest to the noise. Also, some people find this sort of thing harder than others!
Board 3 was interesting; Ian was a Pawn down but his heavy pieces were bearing down on Steve’s position.
Ivor was also a Pawn down as a result of his opening gambit but he had excellent compensation. I have perhaps in the past questioned Ivor’s opening play at times as being too trappy. This was nothing of the sort; it was a positional sacrifice for which he got long term compensation: proper chess! Only good enough for a draw this time, though, as the players reached an impasse. A very good draw for Ivor with Black against a player who out-grades him by almost 30 points.
Meanwhile, Ian had given up a whole piece to get his major pieces into Steve’s position! This was only enough for a draw, however, by perpetual check.
Guaranteed a share of the spoils then. The question was, could I buck the trend and get something against Trevor to win the match for Shrewsbury? Unfortunately not! I got very short of time and risked an exchange sacrifice when I should have tried to hang on as, in retrospect, my position wasn’t that bad. Yet again, I played ok against Trevor but it wasn’t quite enough!
Match drawn, next up Newport B.
Mark Smith, B Team Captain