Peter Kitchen writes.
Shrewsbury’s first team players face two potentially season-defining matches against local rivals Telepost – starting on Tuesday night.
The first fixture will see Shrewsbury A aim for an online league double over Telepost A, who despite being reigning online champions have endured a difficult season and are currently three points adrift at the bottom of the online division one table.
It will be Shrewsbury’s final online league fixture of the season, and they need just a point to mathematically ensure they cannot finish bottom. They still harbour hopes of a second place finish, but need to win and hope Oswestry B drop points.
It comes ahead of the over-the-board team’s trip to Abbey Foregate on March 28th – a potentially pivotal fixture as both Telepost A and Shrewsbury are involved in a four-way scrap to avoid relegation from the top flight.
Shrewsbury have won both the online and over-the-board meetings between the two clubs this season – but both were narrow and hard-fought affairs typical of this fixture.
For this week’s online league fixture, Shrewsbury A are set to welcome Stephen Priestley back into the team in place of Mark Smith.
Meanwhile, Shrewsbury B also face a key fixture this week as they take on fellow Shropshire Online League division two promotion challengers Telford A.
Telford only lie fifth in the division, but have two games in hand on the table-topping Bs and could overhaul them if they pick up maximum points from them.
The B’s are currently unbeaten with three wins and three draws from their six matches, and hold a two-point cushion over Oswestry C and Telepost C. But the chasing pack has gained a little ground after the B’s drew their recent inter-club derby with Shrewsbury C two weeks ago.
The games in both online league matches can be followed on Lichess, and the time control is 45 minutes for all moves with 15 seconds increment per move.
For details and up-to-date team news on the night of the matches, follow Shrewsbury Chess Club’s Facebook page.