First team captain Francis Best has cemented his stranglehold on Shrewsbury Chess Club Championship by clinching his third title in four years.
Best, who came into the event as the top seed, defeated Dan Lockett in a playoff after the two players both finished the five-round tournament on 4/5.
It is the fourth time in seven years that Best has won the competition – three of them have been in playoffs after victories over Olusegun Ilesanmi in 2015/16 and Peter Kitchen in 2018/19.
It was a painful result for Lockett after a loss in a tight game denied him his first club championship title for eight years. Despite losing with the black pieces to Best in round two, he actually won four games to Best’s three, and caught up with his rival after Best drew his final two games of the tournament against Norman O’Connor and Stephen Priestley.
Best had also made it through tight games earlier in the competition, including holding his nerve for a hard-fought win over Kitchen with the black pieces in round three when both players were running very short of time.
The other club champions in recent years have been the late David Everington (2016/17 and 2019/20) and Ted Eales (2017/18).
Best, who has won the competition on a number of further occasions over the past 15 years, said he was delighted to have got over the line.
He said: “It was an interesting game (against Lockett), far from error-free according to the computer but I think that mainly reflects the fact that we were both trying hard and setting each other problems.”
Tony Purser, tournament controller, said: “Congratulations to Francis on retaining his club championship title following the playoff deciding game versus Dan. Well played to both for playing the match in an aggressive and interesting manner.
“Francis was undefeated throughout and Dan won all of his games except the one with Francis to finish a very worthy runner up.
“A special mention to Stephen Priestley for another excellent performance, also creditable displays from Peter, Norman and myself who all finished on five points.
“Thanks to everyone who took part and enjoyed the competition.”
This year’s tournament saw players awarded an extra half point for playing their games before the round deadline. All of these deadlines were met, meaning Best and Lockett ended on 6.5, Priestley 5.5 for his 3/5 and Kitchen, O’Connor and Purser five points for scoring 2.5/5.
The game is available to pay through here, or through the Interesting Games section of the website.
For full tournament scores and results visit the Club Championship section.