Two of Shrewsbury’s first teamers have made the shortlist in the search for the best game of the season by a Shropshire player.
Two games by top board Peter Kitchen – his win over Newport’s Nick Rutter in the Shropshire Chess League division one encounter in April and his recent victory over Dan Lockett in Shrewsbury Town Championship – are among the nine matches under consideration for the Colin Roberts Memorial Trophy.
Captain Francis Best’s spectacular triumph over Maddocks A’s Adrian Zdanowski is also on the shortlist of matches.
An independent panel of Shropshire chess players will be convened to decide which game will be awarded the title.
Other matches on the shortlist include Oswestry’s Charles Higgie’s recent draw with Irish grandmaster Alex Baburin at the World Senior Team Championship and a big upset win for Telepost’s Fred Bench with the black pieces against Maddock’s Glyn Pugh. Pugh himself features on the shortlist with his win over Athar Ansari.
The competition for the best Shropshire game is named after former county champion Roberts, who turned out for Telford and Wellington during his career. He was one of the most popular figures on the Shropshire chess circuit before his untimely death in April 2018.
The nine shortlisted games can be viewed by visiting www.shropshirechess.org, while Best’s win is also featured in the Interesting Games section of www.shrewsburychessclub.org
A decision on the winner is expected to be named in the coming weeks.