A battling display saw Shrewsbury A claim a creditable 2.5-2.5 draw against reigning Shropshire Chess League champions Maddocks A – ending their opponents’ 100 per cent start to the season in the process.
A fine win for Stephen Priestley on his first appearance of the season and a hard-fought victory for Francis Best on top board looked like it might be enough to claim a shock triumph, writes Peter Kitchen.
But despite being an exchange up in his game against Tony Preece, Dan Lockett eventually lost the deciding match on board three in a complicated position as both clocks ran low.
It was still a fine night’s work for Shrewsbury, who lined up at the Nerdy Café without their first choice top boards Nathanael Paul and Peter Kitchen, who were both unavailable.
The result elevated Best’s side to third in the division one, although town rivals Telepost A do have a game in hand. And although the result made it four games without a win since the opening day win at Oswestry A, Shrewsbury have drawn three of those games to establish themselves as one of the toughest sides in the league to beat.
The hosts made two changes from the defeat at Newport A in early December. Priestley – who has been in fine form in online competitions – made his first over-the-board appearance for the club since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic on board four, and Mark Smith also returned to the team slightly higher up the order than usual on board two. Maddocks themselves were without their regular board one Athar Ansari.
After Smith drew with Glyn Pugh, it was the visitors who took the lead when Munroe Morrison defeated Ivor Salter on bottom board.
But the hosts turned the match around with two victories. Priestley played an excellent game against the in-form Steve Tarr, pressuring his opponent throughout the game before eventually transposing to a won king and pawn endgame to triumph on move 48. Stephen has annotated this game and it can be played through on the interesting games tab.
Best’s victory over Andrew Grillage owed a little more to good fortune. The Shrewsbury skipper had been under pressure for much of the evening, but as Grillage continued to search for a way through as time started to run out he blundered away a piece and resigned in disgust.
With Lockett material up in the final game, a famous win looked a distinct possibility. But Preece – a tenacious fighter – typically managed to whip up some complications and prevailed in the blitz finish to spare his side from defeat.
Full scores:
Shrewsbury A 2.5-2.5 Maddocks A (Shrewsbury colours in brackets)
1. Francis Best (b) 1-0 Andrew Grillage
2. Mark Smith (w) 0.5-0.5 Glyn Pugh
3. Dan Lockett (b) 0-1 Tony Preece
4. Stephen Priestley (w) 1-0 Steve Tarr
5. Ivor Salter (b) 0-1 Munroe Morrison
Shrewsbury are next in action at home to Maddocks B this coming Friday (February 3). The match will start at 7.30pm at the Nerdy Café.