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THE PAPERS SAY Read Toby Neal's Column in the Shropshire Star on Tuesdays for the latest Shropshire Chess news. Here are some recent cuttings. If you have a news item email - TNeal@shropshirestar.co.uk. |
| Ferrington wins it as Telepost take trophy Toby Neal Shropshire Star 15/07/2008 Telepost A have done the double after a cliffhanging victory against Shifnal & Telford A in the Cox Trophy summer knockout final, which comes on top of their league championship title. Telepost's Keith Tabner reports: “Both Telepost and Shifnal & Telford were at full strength. It was probably the strongest team the latter have fielded for many years with Trevor Brotherton on top board, and Gareth Edwards, graded 141, on board five. ”Jamie Hopkins and Trevor drew quickly. Colin Roberts and David Bates drew, and then Dave Gostelow and Richard Bryant drew if all five games were drawn Telepost would lose as we had three whites (i.e. games with the white pieces) to their two. ”I battled on against Gareth Edwards on board five for 48 moves before agreeing the endgame draw, leaving the match in the capable hands of Nigel Ferrington on board two, who had just swapped his rook for John Footner's knight and bishop. Some half an hour later this proved enough for the only win of the night 3-2 to Telepost and a league and cup double to celebrate! ”It was Nigel who scored our only win (against Thomas Pym) in the previous round at Newport. What a star! ”Incidentally I have played Gareth Edwards before, though he had forgotten. It was 35 years ago in the Wolverhampton league.” Mehmood's six of best Shropshire juniors performed strongly at the regional finals of a national chess competition in Manchester. The children were taking part in the Gigafinal of the UK Chess Challenge, the third stage of a competition which involves a total of around 70,000 children from across the UK. The star result was Athar Mehmood's six wins out of six to take first place in his under-11 section and qualify for the national Terrafinal next month. ”The event was held at the University of Manchester and each of the juniors played six games against tough opposition from across the Midlands, the North, Scotland and Northern Ireland, scoring one point for a win and a half for a draw.” The Shropshire results were (points out of six):- Under-9 girls, Laura Newey (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 2; under-9 Boys, George Downs (Castle House school) 1.5, Akash Srinivasan (Old Hall school) 1.5. Under-11 boys, Athar Mehmood (Old Hall school and Newport chess club) 6, Terrafinal qualifier; under-12 girls, Angelica Dean (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 3.5; under-12 boys, Matthew Best (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 2.5, Sam Skubala (Oswestry school) 2. Under-13 girls, Katherine Lovejoy (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 3.5; under-13 boys, Jonathan Newey (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 3, Francis Rooney (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 3. Under-15 boys, Sam Eardley (Adams Grammar) 3, Christopher Lovejoy (Shrewsbury Junior Chess club) 3. Under-17 boys, Alex Taylor (Adams Grammar and Newport chess club) 2.5. Under-18 boys, Chris Lewis (Adams Grammar and Newport chess club) 3.5. Shropshire junior chess co-ordinators are Francis Best and Steve Rooney. Rooney said: “This is a fantastic competition that encourages children of all abilities to get involved in chess. We are very proud of our juniors who all performed very well at the gigafinal. It is very easy for schools to take part and we hope that many more Shropshire schools will take part next year.” More details on the event at www.ukchesschallenge.com |
| Players getting "better" so fast Toby Neal Shropshire Star 08/07/2008 Many Shropshire chess players are about to see a dramatic leap in their gradings under a nationwide correction in the gradings list. ”We are all going to be better chess players,” joked county gradings officer Nick Rutter as he outlined the developments to the annual meeting of Shropshire Chess Association. He explained that over some time there had been severe grades deflation grades are assessments of players¹ strength based on their results which particularly affected grades of juniors and those at the lower end of the gradings scale. ”Junior grades in general are much lower than they should be. The size of the correction is likely to be quite enormous at the lower end and the latest I have heard is that a grading of 100 will change into something like 130. ”Roughly speaking, the highest players in the county will see their grades go up by about 10.” The next set of gradings which are due out shortly will comprise two grades an official grade based on the old system, and a preview of the new grade, which is likely to be much higher, and will come into force the following season. When the higher grades come in, they could have a major impact on eligibility to play in some county teams, as some players will, more or less at the stroke of a pen, become too strong for them. ”The under-100 team may find it has lost half its players,” said Rutter. Among other major points to come out of the meeting, the league season is going to be extended starting earlier and finishing later. Tonight (TUESDAY) will see the final of the Cox Trophy summer knockout, which will see Shifnal & Telford A take on Telepost A. Shifnal & Telford expect to be at full strength, so the result will be close. In the Minor knockout competition, Newport B beat Telepost B 2-3 to go through to the final. Martin Patterson, captain of the Newport B side, said: “We had an ace in the pack with Gavyn Cooper and it made a difference. It was quite legal as he has only played one game in Division One as he has been at uni, and they have broken up for hols. Four games in Division One are allowed in the rules. ”Gavyn beat John Bashall, Steve Cooper beat Peter Crean, Dave Lovegrove lost to John Westhead, I beat Dave Adderley, and a junior, Mark Richards, lost to Vinnie Crean. ”It was a great result. There were two sets of fathers and sons playing, with Peter and Vinnie Crean, and Steve and Gavyn Cooper. That does not happen very often in chess.” |
| Shropshire chess clubs could face fines Toby Neal Shropshire Star 01/07/2008 Shropshire chess clubs face being slapped with £50 fines if they fail to pull their weight in the organisation of the county game under controversial and drastic proposals to be debated at a special meeting in September. The move has been prompted by the collapse of some areas of the county game because nobody is coming forward to run them. And some clubs are doing a disproportionate amount of the organisational work while others are providing few, or hardly any, officers or county captains. Next season Shropshire may be absent from county competition because nobody is willing to serve as a county team captain, and the season after that the Shropshire league itself may stop functioning, as league controller Richard Thompson who himself took up the post as a last resort to keep things going has served notice that he intends to step down. Things came to a head at the Shropshire Chess Association annual meeting, which was itself poorly attended. While there are 10 clubs and 22 teams in the league, most of the key league positions have been filled by just one club, Shifnal & Telford, which has provided the president, general secretary, league controller, and county team captains, and also organises the Wrekin Chess Congress. Thompson put forward a plan by which every club should provide one officer for each team that club fields in the league. And should they fail to come up with the required officers, they would be penalised one league fee league fees were put up to £50 per team at the meeting for every “officer shortfall”. ”If we don't do something, we won't be running any county teams at all. And this time next year, if nobody replaces me, we won't be having a league,” said Thompson. ”How else do we do it? Do we let the whole thing crumble?” Association president Iain Wilson said: “What we need to convey to clubs is the gravity of the situation. We can't continue if we don't have enough people coming forward. End of story. If clubs don't respond, we are dead.” The idea had a mixed reception with some, like general secretary Colin Roberts, pointing out that a system of penalties against struggling clubs did not sit well with the association's aim of promoting chess. The association is now appealing for clubs to send representatives to the crunch EGM being held in September which will decide whether to go ahead with the plan. |
County chiefs in move to resolve grading dispute |
| Rutter storms ahead but it's a tough road |
| Clubmates go head to head Toby Neal Shropshire Star 22/04/08 Telepost clubmates Jamie Hopkins and David Bates go head to head in the fifth round of the Shropshire individual championship which is reaching its crucial final stages. Both players are on three points in the seven-game competition, although Bates does have a game still outstanding. In fact there continue to be a number of unfinished games in the tournament, which makes the picture a little complicated as positions could change depending on the results in those games. Colin Roberts, on two points but with two unfinished games will face Trevor Brotherton, on three points, while Nick Rutter, with 1.5 points in the bag but two games outstanding, faces Nigel Ferrington on two points, but with one game still to finish. Also in the leading group is Richard Bryant, with three points, who does battle in round five with Tony Holdford, on 2.5. One of the interesting facets of the tournament for competitors is that the games of the players are published in a tournament bulletin provided, of course, they remember or bother to send them in. Among the latest published games is the encounter between John Whittaker and John Tunks who, while not among the ranks of the county's strongest players, are capable of giving anyone a hard game. Tunks, with the black pieces, had a position which was already starting to creak when he made a mistake which brought the game to a quick conclusion. Here is the game, with annotations based on those in the tournament bulletin: 1 e4 c5 (the Sicilian Defence, which is popular at all levels of chess) 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cd 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Bc4 e6 (we are in one of the myriad of variations of the Sicilian) 7 Bb3 Be7 8 0-0 0-0 9 f4 b5 10 a3 Qc7 11 Kh1 Nc6 12 Be3 Nxd4? (the tournament bulletin suggests Na5 instead) 13 Bxd4 Bb7 14 Qf3 Bc6 15 Rae1 Qb7 (black is taking aim at the e4 pawn) 16 Qg3 g6 17 Qe3 a5 18 f5 (black is in big trouble already) 18... Nxe4?? (after a long thought, looking mostly at 18...e5, Tunks blunders, overlooking 20 Qh6. But 18... e5 doesn't work either, because of 19 fg hg 20 Qh6. Note the part played by the bishop on b3, pinning the f pawn) 19 Nxe4 ef 20 Qh6 and checkmate cannot be prevented, so Tunks resigned. |
| John Footner wins quickplay Toby Neal Shropshire Star 15/04/08 John Footner was winner of the first quickplay evening held at the Shifnal & Telford club, a bit of fun thrown open to allcomers, taking advantage of the club's spacious venue. Richard Thompson reports: “We had a good evening with 14 competitors, including two from Coddon and six who have been coming to the club for a week or two and haven't played any competitive chess against other humans using clocks. ”Everybody enjoyed the evening, and the newcomers were most enthusiastic.” Footner won with a score of five out of six. Runner-up was Andy Tunks, and third was shared between Iain Wilson and Steve Tarr. ”We gave prives to the two best newcomers, Kenny Butler-Smith and Jamie Beddoes. We hope these names will become very familiar in the months and years to come.” Next quickplay evening at the club's venue the Nedge Tavern at Stirchley is on April 23 and all are welcome. Meanwhile new league champions Telepost are out on the town tonight (TUESDAY) to celebrate their victory. They are having a chess and curry night for club members. This will comprise a fun lightning handicap all-play-all competition, to be awarded titles like “Pawn Vinderloo” or “Bombay Duck”, followed by a meal at the Shalimar restaurant in Shrewsbury. |
| Drayton D-day-promotion rests on final fixture Toby Neal Shropshire Star 08/04/08 A clash on Thursday between Newport Juniors and Market Drayton will determine the last remaining issue in the Shropshire Chess League the Division Three promotion battle. A win or a draw for Drayton will ensure they join Shifnal & Telford C in moving up to Division Two next season, at the expense of Shrewsbury C, who are on equal points with Drayton at present but with a better “goal difference”. To round up elsewhere, Telepost A have taken the championship, although Church Stretton A came through strongly on the rails in the final stages and have missed out through their inferior goal difference. Other potential contenders were hampered because for one reason or another they lost the services of some of their best players for all or most of the season. Last season's champions, Newport, were for instance without young stars Tom Pym and Gavyn Cooper, while another stalwart from their championship campaign, the former Jamaican national champion Ryan Palmer, has moved to America. University studies deprived Coddon of Simon Fowler, who is Shropshire's strongest player, while Shrewsbury's strongest player, John Parrott, took a break from chess. Shifnal & Telford's bulwark, John Footner, was away for the second part of the season. At the other end of Division One, Wellington A and Ludlow both found the going far too tough and are relegated. The Shrewsbury-based Telepost club is also celebrating the promotion of their B team from Division Two, and are joined on the way up by Oswestry. Coddon B and Wellington B are relegated. Now that the league is all over bar the shouting, the Shifnal & Telford club, which meets at the Nedge Tavern in Stirchley on Wednesday evenings, is reviving summer quickplays for allcomers, which were begun last year. The first is tomorrow night, and there will be six rounds, with the action starting at 7.30pm. Time limits will vary on a handicap system to give weaker players a fighting chance. There is a small entry fee, which will go towards the prizes. |
| Telepost A are crowned champions Toby Neal Shropshire Star 01/04/08 Telepost A are crowned Shropshire league champions after rivals Church Stretton A were unable to achieve the whitewash victory they needed in their final match to grab a share of the title. Stretton had needed to win on all five boards against a weakened Newport A, and things started well when they went 2-0 up. But then in a battle of the young turks Newport's Alex Taylor got a forced draw against Louis Graham Louis had no way of getting out of it and Stretton's dream was over. ”We were very pleased to get as close as we did after our start of the season, when we had had one point from the first three games,” said a philosophical Stretton captain, Graham Shepherd, who is incidentally stepping down from the captain's role. ”We knew we had to win 5-0, but we failed dismally, I'm afraid. We won 3.5-1.5 1.5 points short. ”Newport came with a weakened side. The story of the match was that Karl Wakefield won fairly convincingly against Sellick Davies, and then Gerald Link won after a bit of a struggle against Joe Pym, having rook against knight and bishop, and took us 2-0 up. ”But then Alex Taylor got a forced draw against Louis. There was nothing Louis could do. ”Nick Graham won against Chris Lewis and, right at the end, when it did not matter, Trevor Brotherton was trying to beat Nick Rutter. It went into an endgame of knight and bishop and equal pawns. Trevor sacced the knight to get two pawns, and was trying to queen a pawn, but could not.” In the final seconds of the game Newport's Rutter mated Brotherton's lone king with a knight and bishop a rarely seen checkmate and an impressive demonstration of Rutter's chess knowledge and skill, especially when he only had little time left on his clock. Shrewsbury-based Telepost now take the title, which ends a bit of a jinx for their captain Richard Bryant. Since 2000 Telepost have won the league championship five times, missing out in the years 2004, 2006 and 2007 the years Bryant was captain. He certainly played a captain's role in breaking the team's duck under his rule his personal record over the season was 11 wins, three draws, and not a single loss. At the other end of Division One, relegated Wellington A ended their season with a 3-2 win against Shifnal & Telford A. One of the most depressing things in chess is to work hard and play well to build up a potentially winning position, and then make a slip which sees the advantage suddenly disappear. It was a feeling I inflicted on Colin Roberts in our board one encounter. Roberts was winning pawns and smoothly going through the gears when, to the surprise of both of us, a sacrificial counter-attack made out of desperation more than calculation completely turned the tables. With Roberts playing white, the game went: 1 c4 d5 2 cd Nf6 (against Nigel Ferrington a while back I had tried the very ropey 2... c6 but he quickly proved it was a giveaway rather than a gambit) 3 Nc3 Nxd5 4 e4 Nb6 (after the game Roberts pointed out that Nxc3 would transpose into the Grunfeld defence, in which, as it happens, he is something of an expert) 5 d4 g6 6 Be3 Bg7 7 Qd2 0-0 8 Rd1 Nc6 9 Bb5 e5 10 Nge2 a6 11 Bxc6 Nc4 12 Qc1 Nxe3 13 Qxe3 bxc6 14 de Qe7 (delusional white is simply winning a pawn...) 15 f4 (...which is now protected) 15...Rb8 16 Rd2 Bh6 17 Qf2 f6 18 ef Rxf6 19 0-0 Be6 20 Rfd1 Rbf8 21 g3 Bg4 22 Qd4 Be6 23 Qa7 R6f7 24 Nd4 Bh3 (this turns out to have been an important move) 25 Nxc6 (Another black pawn goes west but, amazingly, this natural-looking move puts white on the path to disaster. Any quiet consolidating move would have probably cemented victory) 25...Qf6 26 Qc5 Bxf4! (it began to dawn on me that this move, which I had been looking at for some time as a way of going down in a blaze of glory, would put white¹s king in real danger) 27 Rd2? (capturing the bishop was better, but white would still be in some trouble) 27...Bd6! (what Colin didn't see. He was expecting Be3. It's now all over bar the shouting) 28 Rxf6 Bxc5 check 29 Kh1 Rxf6 30 Ne5 (“I'll let you do a pretty mate” he said) 30... Rf1 chk (and now we see how important Bh3 was) 31 Rxf1 Rxf1 checkmate. |
| Title ambush almost sinks Telepost bid Toby Neal Shropshire Star 25/03/08 Title-chasing Telepost A were the victims of a spectacular chess ambush which took them literally seconds from a defeat which could have left their championship ambitions in ruins. The plot by opponents Coddon A involved a ruse involving two cars, a decoy player, and the shock fielding on top board of Simon Fowler, the county's strongest player, who has been absent from the Shropshire chess scene all this season because he is at university. A shell-shocked Telepost just managed to scrabble a draw, when a win would have cemented the title. The result means rivals Church Stretton A need a 5-0 win against Newport A in their final game on Thursday to end the season on equal points and “goal difference” with Telepost, which would presumably mean a shared title. A Stretton whitewash of Newport is a tall order, although it might be some encouragement that Newport struggled to field a full team against relegated Wellington A earlier this month and, short of several top players, actually lost. Coddon's Glyn Pugh reports on the ambush thus: “The Coddon team turned up in two cars. The normal boards 3, 4 and 5 arrived first and the Telepost team thought nothing of it. They set up in another room, only raising eyebrows when the second car arrived with Simon Fowler, William Bates and myself meaning the normal board 5, John Tunks, was only supporting and not playing. ”Board 4 was decided by a blunder, with Richard Bryant beating Gary White, shortly to be followed by William Bates' win against Nigel Ferrington in a wild game. At this stage I had gained a pawn advantage against Dave Bates and Simon was on top against Jamie Hopkins. Only Keith Tabner had an advantage against Andy Tunks. ”Simon duly pushed home his advantage, while Dave Bates managed to go a pawn up, but only in a drawish position and Keith started swapping off. Time was becoming an increasingly important factor and Dave Bates went from a minute advantage to a minute deficit, but had to keep moving. He finally agreed a draw with less than two minutes on his clock to my two-and-a-half minutes, thus leaving Telepost's fate in Keith Tabner's hands against Andy Tunks. ”Moves flashed out with only seconds to spare. Andy's clock fell first, with Keith only having seconds left himself. Telepost scraped a drawn match, and likely the title. Relief was visibly evident. ”Defeat would have meant any Church Stretton win would have given the title to Church Stretton.” One of the match highlights was William Bates' victory against Nigel Ferrington. Ferrington is a former multiple county champion but Bates, on paper a much weaker player and playing with the black pieces, had him on the ropes after only 11 moves. The game went: 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 ed ed 4 c4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Be7 6 Bd3 Bg4 7 Qb3 0-0 8 Qxb7 (The highly experience Ferrington will of course have been aware that in some positions the b7 and b2 pawns are laced with poison. But, there again, there are some positions in which they can be safely captured) 8...dc 9 Qxa8 (In for a penny, in for a pound) 9...cxd3 10 Be3 c5 11 d5 Qb6 (The white queen is now stuck in the corner while black closes in on the white king. Ferrington's situation is critical) 12 b4 Qxb4 13 Bd2 Nbd7 14 Qxa7 Ne4 15 Rb1 Qd4 (Ferrington's position is already resignable) 16 Nxe4 Qxe4 check 17 Kf1 Be2 chk 18 Nxe2 dxe2 chk 19 Ke1 Qxb1 chk 20 Kxe2 Qxh1 21 Qxd7 Bf6 22 Qc6 Qxg2 23 Qxc5 Qe4 chk 24 Be3 Rd8 25 d6 (making mischief with this pawn is white's last hope) 26...Qe5 26 f4 Qxd6 and, with the last hope now gone, white resigned. |
| Time Stands Still |
| David Bates Leads Toby Neal Shropshire Star 04/03/08 David Bates has claimed the scalp of former Shropshire chess champion Nigel Ferrington and is now top scorer in the county individual championship, with three wins from three games. But having seen off one super-tough opponent, his reward is facing another in round four Nick Rutter. Rutter has one point, but two uncompleted games. In fact, quite a few players in the seven-round tournament have games still to complete, making the overall picture rather confusing. In round two Ferrington was paired against David Everington, who has himself won the championship on several occasions in the past. Everington lost quickly when he discovered to his cost that his ambitious play had a flaw. Ferrington had the white pieces and the game went: 1 c4 e5 2 g3 Nf6 3 Bg2 d5 4 cd Nxd5 5 Nf3 Nc6 6 d3 Nb6 7 0-0 Be7 8 a3 0-0 9 Nc3 Be6 10 b4 a5 11 b5 Nd4 12 Bb2 Bb3 13 Qc1 Na4 (turns out to be a mistake) 14 Nxd4 Bg5 15 e3 exd4 16 Nxa4 de 17 Qc3 and black resigned as the threat of checkmate on g7 means he must lose the bishop. In the league, table toppers Telepost A are still unable to stretch away from Church Stretton A and all now hangs on their final two matches of the season, in which they both face opponents who are capable of upsetting the form book. But if Division One is now a two horse race, Division Two is a full race meeting with five runners all vying for the glory. Leaders Telepost B need to win both their last two games to secure the Division Two championship, but unfortunately for them both games are against hot rivals they meet Church Stretton B tonight, and then face Shrewsbury B in a county town derby on March 14. In Division Three, there's another two horse race, with Market Drayton only a point ahead of Shifnal & Telford C. *A junior chess beginners day is being held on Saturday, March 8, from 10am to 3pm, at the Trinity School, Butts Lane, Ford. Children will need to bring a packed lunch. It is aimed at any junior who wants to learn how to play, or get better at chess. The sessions will be aimed at 7-11 year olds. The day will cost £10 but this includes a hardback copy of “Chess for Children” which normally retails at £9.99. To register, parents or guardians should contact county junior chess organisers Francis Best (01743 821220) or Steve Rooney (01694 723724), who are running the day. |
| Table Toppers Totter Toby Neal Shropshire Star 26/02/08 League leaders Telepost A are hanging on by the skin of their teeth at the top of Division One under intense pressure from Church Stretton A. The Shrewsbury-based outfit could only draw against Shifnal & Telford A, while Stretton racked up a 4.5-0.5 win over Coddon A. Telepost's Richard Bryant reports on the drawn match that it was “a toughly-fought contest which could have gone either way right up to the end of the evening. I was slightly relieved to leave with a point as this means Telepost are still top of the league even if our once strong lead has dwindled.” Shifnal & Telford's Iain Wilson's take on it was: “Table Toppers Totter! Could Shifnal & Telford draw twice this season with Telepost? Early signs were not good. Telepost took the lead through Richard Bryant, and seemed to be level or winning in the other games. But the tide began to turn. ”Colin Roberts secured the draw he had sought all evening. Richard Thompson gained a draw despite having lost the exchange. Dave Gostelow agreed a draw in a better position but with the clock ticking away. Meanwhile, the middle game complications on board 4 cleared to reveal my rook gobbling up seventh row black pawns and setting up a checkmate win. Job done! Draw gained!” In Division Two, Telepost B and Oswestry are neck-and-neck, but watch out for third-placed Shrewsbury B, who are a point behind but with two games in hand. And it's still all to play for in the Division Three promotion battle, with Market Drayton and Shifnal & Telford C in the top spots but with Shrewsbury C still with a realistic shout should they falter in the last few games of the season. |
| Chess has it's Appeal Toby Neal Shropshire Star 19/02/08 Just how good a player is Vinny Crean? And, in particular, how much has his game deteriorated in the wake of his two-year sojourn in Australia and New Zealand, from which he has now returned and is back in Shropshire league action? It is a question which has required a ruling from top local chess officials following a complaint, presumably by a rival team, about Vinny's continued use in the Telepost C team. After receiving the complaint league controller Richard Thompson banned Crean from playing in the C team again this season. However, Telepost took the matter to the “House of Lords” of Shropshire chess the rules and disputes committee which has allowed their appeal, with the upshot that Crean has been given the go-ahead to keep playing in the C team. Central to the point in dispute was how strong a player Vinny now is. Having been away from chess for so long, he no longer has a grading an assessment of a player's strength based on their results. Before he took his trip Down Under, he was graded at 101. League rules allow for players graded under 90 to play in a club's teams in Divisions One and Two as many times as they like (unless the club has two teams in Division One). The aim of the rule is to help clubs which struggle to raise a team, because it gives them the flexibility to draw on a pool of weaker players without limit. If, though, the substitute player is graded over 90, he or she can only play for the higher team twice. The third time, they become a member of the higher team, and are not allowed to play for the lower team again that season. Crean had played for the Telepost B team (in Division Two) five times and Telepost C (Division Three) five times. In dealing with the issue, league controller Thompson said some allowance must be made for rustiness, but added: “It is a grey area, but in my view, Vinny is definitely the wrong side of it. A drop of 12 grading points for just one season is too many.” He ruled that Crean was now tied to Telepost B and could not play again for the C team. The crucial factor in the success of Telepost's appeal against this ruling was evidence, based on his results so far, that Crean is significantly weaker than he was. He himself estimates that he is playing at a grading strength of around 78, and after investigating, grading officer Nick Rutter confirmed that he is playing at an under-90 standard at present. |
| Church Stretton Blow Title Race Wide Open Toby Neal Shropshire Star 12/02/08 Church Stretton A have blown the championship race wide open with a victory over Division One leaders Telepost A who seemed to be running away with the title. Having once had a five-point cushion, the Shrewsbury-based side now have Stretton breathing down their necks, just two points adrift following the south Shropshire team's 2-3 away victory. The issue was decided on the top board, where two of the big hitters of Shropshire chess, Nigel Ferrington and Trevor Brotherton, who are both multiple past winners of the county individual chess crown, squared up. This time Brotherton carried the day, and with it the match. Telepost's Richard Bryant reports: "Unfortunately we suffered our first loss of the season. The four draws hide some very hard-fought games. They could have easily led to a win for the Telepost players, but such hopes were dashed by good defensive play by the opposition. "Congratulations to Church Stretton on their victory, but I hope it will not stop Telepost taking the championship." Third place Shrewsbury A's hopes of taking advantage of Telepost's slip were wrecked by a defeat against Shifnal & Telford A Shrewsbury's David Everington reports: "Telford got their revenge for the earlier season loss to us. Colin Roberts started well with a virtually won position around move eight and nine after I misplayed the opening, a line in the Sicilian. Then, as often happens, he started using too much time trying to find the most precise winning line and it came down to a time scramble when he finally forced a back rank mate around move 55. "Francis Best gave Dave Gostelow a hard game on board two but finally went down as the flags were close to dropping. Steve Rooney might have missed a win in his pawn ending against Iain Wilson but simply didn't have time to work out the complexities and agreed a draw. "Richard Thompson won for the visitors with his pieces swarming around Ian Davies' king despite the latter getting a pawn on the seventh rank. Ray Cox salvaged something for Shrewsbury as his excellent form continues in his first season back in the game for a year or two." |
| Shrewsbury's Bees are Buzzing Toby Neal Shropshire Star 05/02/08 Shrewsbury B are heading the promotion race in Division Two after a hard-fought victory over struggling Coddon B, but have four teams breathing down their necks. Although only a point ahead of the chasing pack, Shrewsbury do have the advantage of a game in hand. Telepost A meanwhile continue to head the first division and have a four point cushion, and in Division Three it's boiling down to a battle between Shifnal & Telford C and Market Drayton. Shrewsbury A have given themselves an outside chance they are five points adrift of taking the league title with a 3-2 victory over Newport A, who are formidable when at full strength. Shrewsbury's David Everington reports: "After taking just half a point from our last two matches against Newport A, we felt a bit like Spurs against Arsenal after this surprise result albeit that the home side was missing Thomas Pym. "Peter Kitchen found himself facing Tony Holdford's favourite King's Gambit and defended with Bobby Fischer's idea of 3...d6, but a promising Black attack fizzled out to a draw early in the evening. "Ray Cox quickly got a pawn on to f7 against Joe Pym but the young Newport player defended very accurately to force a drawn position. While Nick Rutter was gradually grinding me down on board one, Steve Rooney and Norman O'Connor (standing in as reserve for Francis Best) clinched the points for the visitors." |
| Changing Times Toby Neal Shropshire Star 29/01/08 There was an interesting 'gambit' in the encounter between two wily veterans in the Shrewsbury B v Wellington B match in Division Two. It was a late start and people were still milling around. According to eye witnesses Norman O'Connor was getting fed up with waiting and decided to get things under way, and started his clock in the absence of his opponent, Wellington captain Derrick Powell, who was chatting and still getting things organised. When Powell sat down he picked up the ticking clock and looked at it, apparently with a rather puzzled expression. Deciding that the clock was not on the correct side of the board, Powell put it down again on the other side which meant all the time elapsed now counted against O'Connor! Things were quickly sorted out. To cap it all, the clock played a decisive role in the game that followed. "He lost on time. I had him by the throat, mind you," said Powell. Incidentally under the international rules of chess it is up to the arbiter to decide on which side of the board the clock is placed. As there is no arbiter on hand in Shropshire league game, presumably it is a case of 'anything goes' . Shropshire beat Lincolnshire in the Midlands Counties Chess Union minor championships at Spondon, near Derby. The teams were broadly evenly matched gradings-wise and Shropshire¹s winners in the 9-6 victory were Nick Rutter, Nigel Ferrington, Colin Roberts, Glyn Pugh, and Alex Taylor, with draws from Nick Graham, Philip Makepeace, Gareth Edwards, Toby Neal, Steve Tarr, Iain Wilson, John Westhead and Andy Tunks. One game, involving captain Windsor Peck, has gone to adjudication. Peck, who was down to his last seconds on the clock, stopped the clock and claimed a draw in a position where his opponent, white, to play, has Ra4, Kf5, and pawns on g4 and h5. Peck has Kg8, Nh7, and pawns on g7 and h6. Some analysis by various players immediately after the game found no obvious way for white to break through. Back to the league, and table-toppers Telepost cruised to a 4.5-0.5 win over struggling Wellington A. Top board Jamie Hopkins gave Toby Neal the bird in their encounter and thought the game merited publication which, being his defeated opponent, I do grudgingly! Hopkins played 1 f4, the unusual Bird¹s opening, which theorists treat with suspicion as it weakens white¹s king¹s position. But familiarity counts for a lot, and Jamie knows the opening well, while I had never played against it before. The game went: 1 f4 e5 (This is called From¹s Gambit, the only response I vaguely knew. It is supposed to be quite good though.) 2 fe d6 3 ed Bxd6 4 Nf3 (If it¹s black¹s lucky day, white will play something like 4 Nc3, and lose at once to 4Qh4 check 5 g3 Qxg3 chk 6 hxg3 Bxg3 mate) 4Nf6 5 d4 0-0 6 Qd3 Bg4 7 Bg5 (Jamie said this strong pin had to be prevented by h6) 7Š Qe7 (Again Jamie, with his better understanding of the opening, said the queen was misplaced here. The aim is of course to stop e4) 8 Nbd2 h6 (Too late!) 9 Bxf6 gxf6? (A desperate attempt to stop the black-squared bishop being swapped off. But it gets swapped off anyway and I¹m left with a shattered king¹s position) 10 Nc4 Bf4 11 g3 Bg5 12 h4 b5 13 Nxg5 (The beginning of the end already! If bxc4, 14 Qh7 mate) 13Šf5 14 Ne5 hxg5 15 Nxg4 fxg4 16 hg f5 17 gxf6 Rxf6 18 Qxb5 Qe4 19 Bg2 (A move that can only be made after deep calculation) 19ŠQxg2 20 Qe8 check (After the game Jamie¹s colleagues gleefully pointed out to him that Qg5 check won quicker. It¹s easy when you¹re watching!) 20...Kg7 (If Rf8, Qg6 mate) 21 Qh8 chk Kf7 22 Rh7 chk Ke6 23 Qe8 chk Kd5 24 Qe5 chk Kc6 25 Qxc7 chk Kd5 26 Qe5 chk Kc6 27 Qc5 mate. |
| Church Stretton Close the Gap Toby Neal Shropshire Star 22/01/08 Church Stretton A have closed the gap a little on table-toppers Telepost A with a good win over Shrewsbury A in which Gerald Link must take a lot of the credit. It was a beautiful piece of play which saw Link steer himself to victory in a king and pawns ending against Peter Kitchen. Shrewsbury, who are no longer the force they once were, did well to hold their higher graded opponents of the top two boards and, while Steve Rooney constructed a neat and unstoppable mating attack against Graham Sheperd, Ray Cox suffered his first loss of the season to Karl Wakefield's ferocious Morra Gambit. The upshot was a 2-3 victory to Stretton, a team which was not long ago promoted from Division Two, but which has benefited from an influx of strong players and is proving able to punch its weight in the top flight. On the county scene, Shropshire's under-100 team went down to a narrow defeat against Staffordshire Bulldogs that county¹s under-100 A team in an encounter at Brewood cricket club. The Salopians were outgraded on every board, so the 7-5 loss was an honourable one. Shropshire's winners were Roger Brown, Derrick Powell and Martin Patterson, and draws came from Andrew Jones, Paul Broderick, Alan Pickles, and Steve Szwajkun. |
| Fried Liver for George Toby Neal Shropshire Star 15/01/08 One of the stars of the recent Wrekin Chess Congress, Telford's George Viszokai, found himself left with the bitter taste of fried liver as he went down to defeat against David Everington, a former county champion, in the Shropshire individual championship. The seven-game competition is now moving into its third round with Jamie Hopkins and Richard Bryant in the lead, both with two wins under their belts, although the situation is complicated as there are many games still unfinished. Hopkins and Bryant play each other in this round, and among other heavyweight clashes Nick Rutter crosses swords with Trevor Brotherton, and David Bates will face Nigel Ferrington. Viszokai won a veteran's prize in this month's congress but the experienced player found himself bamboozled by Everington early on when he fell victim to a variation on the so-called 'Fried Liver attack'. This attack is normally seen in some variations of the Two Knights Defence, but Everington conjured up a similar position in the Ruy Lopez opening he played against Viszokai. Here is the game, with Everington with the white pieces. Annotations are adapted from the tournament bulletin. 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 (Encouraging white to show his hand with the bishop as it may now be his last chance to play Bxc6, as black plans to follow up with b5, breaking the pin) 4 Ba4 (Although it looks as if white could win a pawn by 4 Bxc6 dxc6 5 Nxe5, black wins it back easily after Qd4 and gets a better position to boot) 4...Nf6 5 0-0 b5 6 Bb3 d6 7 Ng5 (Looks better than it is!) 7... d5 8 ed Nxd5 (A mistake, but played in Luckis-Rossentto in 1944. Instead black should have played Nd4! and there would be no way for a white advantage) 9 Nxf7! (Just like the old Fried Liver attack of the Two Knights Defence) 9... Kxf7 10 Qf3 check Qf6? (This simply loses, but so does 10... Ke6 11 Nc3 Nce7 12 d4 c6 13 Bg5 and white is well on top) 11 Bxd5 chk and black resigned a few moves later. Shropshire's chess clubs are always looking for new players and particularly prized acquisitions are strong players from yesteryear who are returning to the game after years away. Among the latest potential recruits to the Shifnal & Telford club is Tony Barnes who used to play for GKN Sankey now Coddon but gave up years ago, although he temporarily resurfaced over a decade ago to win the Shropshire Minor event with five wins out of five. Now retired, he is keen to get back into the game, and the club thinks he will fit easily into second and third division chess and quickly get into first division chess. |
| County Double Header Toby Neal Shropshire Star 18/12/07 Things were somewhat crowded as Shropshire's first team and the county under-100 team both discovered they had simultaneous fixtures at the regular Shifnal venue. But although the under-100s started an hour later than the first teamers, and there were some worries because the respective captains had no idea where the second set of chess sets was, all went reasonably smoothly in the end. The under-100s had a narrow 6.5-5.5 victory over Staffordshire Terriers so called to avoid A and B teams as the Staffordshire outfit now draws its players largely geographically, with the Terriers being mostly from the north of the county. The match was played at Shifnal Scout and Guide headquarters and captain Roger Brown says: “A week beforehand I phoned Windsor Peck, the first team captain, to see if I could borrow the sets to use for the match. It was then that we realised that we were both playing at home. This is not too much of a problem as we just about have the space. The main issue was that the Open team had arranged to start at 1pm and the U100 to start at 2pm. ”As it worked out, I believe the start time differences did not cause a problem. The U100 teams crowded into a smaller room to do the formal announcements and were then able to go into the main room quietly and begin the match. ”The other issue was that neither Windsor or I knew were the second set of county chess sets was. It was quickly discovered that the sets were still held by the previous year's U100 captain. He brought the sets from Shrewsbury on the day of the match.” In the match there was an exciting climax, with the score at 5-5 with two games remaining. ”Neil Sampson and I both appeared to have the upper hand both outgunning our opponents by one pawn in pawn and rook endings. Neil won his game and I offered a draw in my game soon after, which was accepted, so a win for Shropshire,” said Brown. Shropshire winners were Neil Sampson, Dele Ogundipe, Andrew Jones, and Sellick Davies, with draws from Roger Brown, Richard Gillespie, Paul Broderick, Alan Pickles and Steve Szwajkun. Incidentally the open team result is not yet in. Meanwhile a rallying call has gone out among Shropshire chess players to support the Wrekin Chess Congress, which is rapidly approaching. It is the biggest event in the Shropshire chess calendar and is being held at Madeley Court Centre on January 5 and 6. Entry forms are downloadable from www.shropshirechess.org, which is the county chess website. |
Wrekin Congress Rapidly Approaching |
| County Individual Championship is Underway Toby Neal Shropshire Star 04/12/07 Shropshire's individual championship has got under way with 24 players bidding to become the king of Shropshire chess. The seven-round tournament is a rare chance, at least in the early rounds, for B and C team players to clash swords with some of the strongest players in the county game. Contrary to what you might expect, they generally relish the prospect. Weaker players naturally tend to make more frequent, and more serious, mistakes than their stronger opponents, and once they cut down on them they stop "losing" games and start to force their opponents to "win" them. And even the best players can drop a clanger indeed, if nobody ever made a mistake, then nobody would ever lose. One of the David v Goliath encounters in the first round saw Nick Rutter, a former county champion who is graded 182, facing John Westhead, who is graded 117. As often happens, it was a mistake by the underdog which brought things to a rapid conclusion. Here is how things went, with annotations adapted from the tournament bulletin. Rutter had the white pieces. 1 e4 e6 2 Nf3 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 d4 c5 6 Bg5 Be7? (Although this looks a natural move, it is Westhead¹s first mistake which Rutter punishes quickly. 6...Qb6 or 6...Qa5 would leave the white bishop pointing at thin air and begin black¹s counterplay) 7 Bxe7 Qxe7 8 Nb5 Qd8 (Westhead stops 9 Nc7 check but has to endure what¹s coming in its place) 9 Nd6 chk Ke7 (now Westhead cannot castle, and his king is uncomfortably placed) 10 Ng5 cd 11 Qxd4 Nc6 12 Qh4 Qa5 chk 13 c3 f6 14 Qg4 (This is a bit risky as black has many options in this position) 14...Ndxe5 (unclear is 14...fxg5 15 Qxg5 chk Kf8 16 Qf4 chk Ke7 17 Qf7 chk Kd8 18 Qxg7 Rf8 and white has compensation for the piece, but the assessment is unclear) 15 Nxc8 chk Raxc8 16 Qxe6 chk Kd8 (White¹s idea was to play Rd1 here, but then black plays Nf3 chk followed by Re8, winning the queen) 17 Qd6 chk Ke8 18 Qe6 chk Kd8 19 0-0-0 Nb4 20 a3 Rxc3 chk 21 Kb1 (if 21 bxc3, then 21... Qxa3 chk and Rutter would be struggling to avoid an early bath) 21... Rc6? (Again, it looks a natural move, but it is a fatal mistake. In contrast the hard-to-see 21...Qa4 would be very tricky for white with the continuation 22 Rxd5 chk Nxd5 23 Qxd5 chk Kc8 24 bxc3 Rd8 and probably leads to a draw) 22 axb4 (now white wins material) 22... Rxe6 23 Nxe6 chk Ke7 24 bxa5 Kxe6 and Westhead played out four more moves before resigning. In the league there was a big derby game between Shrewsbury A and Telepost A in which the heavy artillery of the Telepost outfit proved decisive. Shrewsbury's David Everington said: “We were heavily outgunned by the higher-graded Telepost team but made a better fight of it than the score suggests in losing their first match this season. ”Francis Best launched a fierce attack against Nigel Ferrington's Sicilian Defence but the Telepost player, seemingly under great pressure for much of the game, came up with a superb defensive performance, finding good moves throughout. ”Ray Cox saved the whitewash with another good performance on board five and remains unbeaten this season.” Telepost's Richard Bryant commented: “After about an hour I was fairly optimistic that we were likely to win but when the final two games were completed giving such a large victory even I was astonished.” |
| Order is Restored Toby Neal Shropshire Star 27/11/07 Slowly but surely the organisational gloom which had afflicted Shropshire chess at the start of the season is lifting as arrangements fall into place to keep things running. Richard Thompson has stepped forward to take the role of league controller, but that still left a lot of uncertainty in county matches which was underlined when one tie was organised independently by two well-intentioned folk, on different days and at different venues. However, Roger Brown has now taken on the role of the captain of the under-100 A team that is, the team for players graded under 100 while Francis Best and Steve Rooney are already dealing with things for the B team, who are the juniors. The open team is under the captaincy of Windsor Peck, but Windsor is also acting captain for the under-125s, where the post is vacant. Things haven't been so good in terms of results, and the under-100 team had an agonisingly close defeat against Worcestershire.The encounter was at Webheath Village Hall in Worcestershire and the outcome was a 6.5-5.5 victory for the home team, with Shropshire¹s winners being Roger Brown, Derrick Powell, Richard Szwajkun and Bryan Brown, and draws from Paul Broderick, Sellick Davies, and Steve Szwajkun. The junior outfit Shropshire under-100 B team were heavily outgraded in their match against Staffordshire Bulldogs, who are the Staffordshire A team, but there was still some cheer in two good wins by Jonathan Newey from Shrewsbury and Huw Davenport from Newport, together with a well-deserved draw by Mark Richards of Newport. Joint captain Steve Rooney said: "Many of the other matches were hard-fought with the juniors putting up good resistance including Peter Mellor of Coddon on board 1 who had winning chances in the final time scramble but his opponent eventually clinched it." The Shifnal & Telford club's teams have enjoyed mixed fortunes lately. Iain Wilson reports: “The B team lost heavily to a full-strength Shrewsbury B but has since drawn with Oswestry. The C team were a board short against Shrewsbury Juniors but still managed a draw and then beat Newport Juniors. The Wolves League team are leading Rugeley 3.5-0.5, with a likely win and draw from the adjourned games, and have since beaten Bushbury B.” |
| A New League Controller Is Appointed Toby Neal Shropshire Star 20/11/07 Richard Thompson has stepped forward to take on the vacant post of league controller, filling an organisational vacuum which was proving a severe handicap to Shropshire's league chess scene. Thompson has “reluctantly” agreed to take on the role for the rest of the season “and maybe a season or two more.” He has been emailed some instructions on what to do by the previous league controller, John Casewell. It means a break for league secretary Colin Roberts who has been doing heroic work keeping results and the chess website organised while the hunt for a permanent league controller continued. Meanwhile Vinnie Crean, the website wizard who did so much to keep things running smoothly, is back from his spell in Australia his work permit was running out and no doubt will find his shoulder being tapped for some expertise and advice. All in all it amounts to a chink of light in what had been a rather gloomy start to the league season. Matches have continued as normal, and Shrewsbury-based teams are heading all three divisions. Shrewsbury B are being pressed hard by Church Stretton B in Division Two. The Stretton club was struggling for players a couple of seasons back but an influx of top talent in the A team the Grahams and Trevor Brotherton has clearly had knock-on benefits for the B-teamers. Shrewsbury Juniors are still without a win in Division Three but are leading the rest of the division in terms of matches played. For some reason they have completed four, and all the rest only two. |
Another Missing Trophy is Found Toby Neal Shropshire Star 13/11/07 Missing Shropshire chess trophies are continuing to come out of the woodwork or, more precisely, out of dusty attics. First the missing Cox Trophy turned up safe and well, and then Ray Cox found a long-lost trophy for Shropshire Juniors, which had not been seen for 35 years, while clearing out his attic. That inspired Iain Wilson to have a look in his own attic and, lo and behold, out has come a wooden shield for the Shropshire Schools Chess Under-18 Championships, bearing the names of winners from 1973 to 2003, albeit with a gap from 1985 to 2002. Wilson said: “The trophy came into my hands for safekeeping when I was county secretary in the 1990s and was not awarded at the time because of a lack of organisation of chess in Shropshire at senior schools level. But in 2002 Simon Fowler was riding high in the Wrekin Congress so it seemed a good idea to put it to use. The same happened with Tom Pym in 2003. Unfortunately, the trophy is now full, though possibly a few more shields could be added on an inner row.” In the league, Telepost A are the early leaders but were held to a draw by Shifnal & Telford A, which has allowed Shrewsbury A to move within a point with a 4-1 victory over Wellington A. Wellington's only point came from Ibiye Roberts on board two, despite arriving 35 minutes late after a confusing encounter with Shrewsbury¹s roundabouts. David Everington sealed the victory for Shrewsbury with a win on top board over Toby Neal, for whom it was an unwelcome first his first ever loss on time and Steve Rooney put the icing on the cake with a comfortably won endgame over Stefan Tennant in a game in which, to the puzzlement of spectators, both players still had 10 minutes left on their clocks even after all the other games had finished. In Division Two, Shifnal & Telford B beat Newport B in a match which saw Tim Skidmore draw on his debut outing. |
| Is it Chess or Chaos? The consequences of the organisational vacuum at the top of Shropshire chess were thrown into sharp focus when a county under-100 match was, with the best of intentions, independently organised by two different people, at different venues and on different days. It was quite late in the day that the duplication was discovered by chance, and corrected. The match was that of Shropshire under-100 A team, versus the Shropshire under-100 B team, which is the junior team. Currently the A team is without a captain and organiser, and this was at the root of all the confusion that followed. Windsor Peck, the county first team captain, stepped into the breach and got a team together for the tie, which was earmarked to be played at Shifnal on a Saturday. Unknown to him, one of the junior organisers, Francis Best, was also doing his bit to make sure the match went ahead. He too was organising teams and his match was set for a Tuesday at Shrewsbury. Nobody realised anything was amiss, even though several players were contacted by both ‘acting captains' asking them to play. It was only at the 11th hour that these two parallel chess universes became apparent through a phone conversation. In the event, it was Best's Tuesday match at Shrewsbury which went ahead, and Peck's Saturday match at Shifnal was knocked on the head. ”It was genuinely a misunderstanding. At the time I was a little put out. When you have done a lot of work you like to see it bear some fruit,” said Peck. Some good may come out of the mix-up. Best said: “What we were hoping was that a ‘proper' A team captain would come out of the match, and that may have happened, as somebody has said they would be prepared to do it if somebody else would help them. I said to people on the night that it might be the last match they were playing for the A team, which would be a great shame in the wake of their success last year.” In the match itself, the A team won 9.5-2.5. Toby Neal Shropshire Star 06/11/07 |
| Shropshire v Leicestershire A late comeback against the odds secured Shropshire a hard-fought 8-8 draw against Leicestershire in the Midlands open championships. With three games left to complete and with the Salopians two points down, things were looking bleak. Iain Wilson's opponent was pressing confidently for a win, David Hollands' position was crumbling, and on top board Simon Fowler was in a knife-edge rook and pawns endgame. And as the clocks ticked down to their final minutes and seconds, it was clear the result was going to go down to the wire. As he watched Wilson's game, Colin Roberts jotted down a question of three words win, save, lose? Wilson's position seemed one of desperate defence, although he did have a passed pawn, albeit one which was unable to run as it was being closely marshalled. However, in the opinion of one or two spectators, despite appearances, he was potentially winning. That will have to be a matter of post-match analysis as eventually Wilson's opponent abandoned his own hopes of winning and a draw was agreed. Attention then turned to Hollands' game, where things were rather more clear cut. He was obviously losing. The clock came to his rescue, with his opponent running out of time. It meant Shropshire had clawed back one point and now Simon Fowler on top board had to win his game to save the match. Both he and his opponent were down to their last seconds. While his opponent had two connected passed pawns, the crucial factor was that Fowler's rook had shut his opponent's king out of the action, while his own king was able to move freely. His opponent's flag fell simultaneously with Fowler cementing his winning position on the board, and meant the match finished all square. Shropshire winners were: Nick Rutter, Colin Roberts, John Footner, Chris Lewis, Simon Fowler, and David Hollands, and draws came from Toby Neal, Ibiye Roberts, Peter Kitchen and Iain Wilson. Meanwhile Colin Roberts has been ensuring the league continues to function in the absence of a league controller, and has established a degree of automation in compiling the league tables on the chess website. Toby Neal Shropshire Star 16/10/07 |
| Shropshire Chess Crisis Deepens Shropshire chess is stumbling towards its most shambolic start to a league season in memory next week in which fixtures will be played but anybody wanting to view league tables will face a DIY task. Despite repeated appeals, nobody has come forward to fill the post of league controller, which will plunge the county game into a “dark age” in which there will be no league tables, only limited results information if any posted on the chess website, and potentially no collection of information for grading purposes. Further, there will be nobody to keep tabs on rearrangements of fixtures or make decisions on any disputes. ”It's a pretty sad state of affairs. There are the best part of 200 players in the county. We all want the league to continue, but nobody will come forward as league controller,” Shropshire Chess Association president Iain Wilson told the association's council meeting. ”I'm not sure what the answer is. I'm not sure there's the reservoir now of people just playing chess and dying for the opportunity to do more for the game.” The crisis will hit immediately as at least two clubs have A, B, and C teams scheduled to play on the same night at the start of the season. As they do not have enough players to turn out three sides simultaneously, they will be seeking to rearrange fixtures. Without a league controller, it is possible that anarchy will reign in such situations captains and club secretaries will be entirely on their own. The gloom is more general, with the Darwin chess festival, a showcase of chess in Shrewsbury held at the Darwin shopping centre, folding this month because nobody is organising it. There will be no Shropshire teams for players graded under 125 or under 100, because nobody has volunteered to be captains, and the Oswestry rapidplay, which has been held for well over 20 years, is folding because of a lack of an organiser. And, not for the first time, a piece of Shropshire chess silverware has mysteriously disappeared the Cox Trophy is missing. ”It seems chess is in a bit of the doldrums generally,” commented Oswestry¹s Keith Grice. On a brighter note, January's Wrekin Chess Congress is safe, as is the county individual competition. As things stand, with the recording of league results uncertain, these may turn out to be the only Shropshire chess tournaments which will count for grading purposes, with league games effectively being only “friendlies” Toby Neal Shropshire Star 25/09/07 |
| Crucial Chess Council Meeting Shropshire chess officials meet tonight (TUESDAY) in a crunch meeting which will determine how badly affected the coming season will be by an organisational crisis in the county game. At the annual meeting of Shropshire Chess Association earlier in the summer several key posts went unfilled, including the crucial position of league controller, and the captaincies of the under-125 and under-100 teams. Tonight¹s association council meeting will hear if there has been any progress in finding volunteers to fill the posts. Fixture lists for both league games and county games have already been drawn up. The league season is fast approaching and presumably matches will be played, whether or not there is anybody administering the league. But will there be any league tables? At county level, the absence of team captains will have a clear consequence with nobody running the teams, the teams will effectively fold, denying county competition to Shropshire players with a grading of under 125. The meeing is at Telepost Chess Club, Railway Lane, off Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, at 7.30pm. Meanwhile the Shifnal & Telford club are thinking of expanding the scope of their operations at their new venue, The Nedge, at Stirchley. Some folk at The Nedge have mentioned to the chess players that although chess isn¹t really their bag, they are interested in other games like war gaming or backgammon. And that has led to the chess club wondering whether they could not use the large function room at The Nedge as a sort of games centre, with a host of people playing chess, bridge, backgammon, draughts, Go, or whatever. It has been canvassing the views of members before deciding how to proceed. Toby Neal Shropshire Star 18/09/07 |
| Thomas Pym is County Champion Tom Pym has become one of Shropshire's youngest county chess champions with an impressive victory in the Shropshire individual tournament. Tom, 17, who plays for the Newport club, scored wins over some of the strongest players in the local game to take the title, culminating in a victory against former champion Nigel Ferrington in the seventh and last round. The teenager, memorably once dubbed "Terrible Thomas" by David Everington after a heavy defeat, finished on six points out of a possible seven, his one loss being to his 18-year-old rival, Simon Fowler. Although Simon also finished the tournament on six points, Tom becomes county champion with its £50 first prize under the "sum of progressive scores" tiebreak system, which essentially weighs up who had the toughest task over the seven rounds. Simon is runner up, and Nigel Ferrington is third. The under-140 grading prize goes to Windsor Peck, while Chris Lewis takes the under-120 grading prize. The under-100 grading prize was shared between Andrew Lewis and Dave Lovegrove. Best game prize goes to the encounter between Nigel Ferrington and Gavyn Cooper, which ended up a draw after a tremendous tussle. Here it is, with Ferrington with the white pieces. The annotations are from the tournament bulletin. 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Bc4 Bg7 7 h3 O-O 8. O-O Nxe4 9 Nxe4 d5 10 Nb5 dxc4 11 Qxd8 Rxd8 12 Nc7 (Black loses the exchange but this is fully compensated by the bishop pair and black¹s dynamic position) Na6 13 Nxa8 Bf5 14 Re1 Rxa8 15 c3 b5 16 Bg5 e5 17 Nd6 Bd7 18 Be3 f5 19 f3 Bc6 20 a4 bxa4 21 Nxc4 Nc7 22 Na5 Be8 23 Bc5 Nb5 24 Rad1 a3 25 Bxa3 Nxa3 26 bxa3 Rc8 27 c4 Ba4 28 Rb1 e4 29 Re2 Bd4 check 30 Kh2 Bb6 31 Nb3 exf3 32 gxf3 Rxc4 33 Nd2 Rc3 34 Rb4 Bc6 35 Rc4 Rxc4 36 Nxc4 Bxf3 37 Re7 Bf2 38 Ne5 Be4 39 Nd7 Bd4 40 Kg3 h6 41 Ne5 g5 42 Nf7 Bg7 43 Rxa7 (This was Nigel's sealed move but the rook is unsafe on this square) Bd5 44 Nxh6 chk (Necessary as other knight moves allows black to play Be5 followed by Bd4 chk winning the rook) Bxh6 (A difficult position the two bishops may beat the rook with best play, but it¹s very hard and white has good practical chances of a draw) 45 Rd7 f4 chk 46 Kh2 Be4 47 a4 Bf8 48 a5 f3 49 Kg3 Bb4 50 Rd1 Bxa5 51 Rf1 Bd8 (51... Kg7 might win) 52 Rxf3 Kg7 53 Rc3 Kg6 54 Rc4 Bd5 55 Rc5 Be6 56 Rc6 Kf5 57 Rxe6 Kxe6 58 h4 gxh4 chk 59 Kg2 Kf5 60 Kh1 Kg4 61 Kh2 Bc7 chk 62 Kh1 and a draw was agreed. The depth of the crisis in the organisation of Shropshire chess will become clear at the Shropshire Chess Association council meeting next week. Several key posts are vacant. They include that of league controller raising the question of how the league will be able to function in the coming season and also the captaincies of the under-100 and under-125 teams. Without captains these teams, which provide such good experience for youngsters and up-and-coming players, will die. The meeting is at Telepost Chess Club in Railway Lane, off Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury, on September 18 at 7.30pm. - Toby Neal Shropshire Star 11/09/07 |
| Chess aces set for a revival of summer series Shifnal & Telford chess club are planning to take advantage of their brand new venue to revive a series of summer quickplay tournaments. The club now meets at the Nedge Tavern at Stirchley in Telford. Richard Thompson of the club said:"³We have plenty of space in the room and are intending, albeit a little late, to revive the series of summer quickplays that were held in past years by Shrewsbury and Coddon. We'll be holding the first on Wednesday, July 25, at the club. The format will be six rounds in each evening. There will be varying time limits, most probably 12 minutes for those graded under 100, 10 mins for 101 to 125, eight minutes for 126 to 150 and six mins thereafter. Entry fee is £2, which will all go in prizes. Everyone is welcome." Meanwhile David Bates has withdrawn from the Shropshire individual competition due to work pressures, and this could have a bearing on the outcome of the tournament, as Tom Pym and Simon Fowler each get a default win against him. Organiser Nick Rutter says: "This means that Simon finishes on five out of six, but the result of the championship now depends as follows: If Nigel Ferrington beats Tom, then Nigel is champ. If Nigel and Tom draw, then Simon is champ. If Tom beats Nigel he then needs to beat Trevor Brotherton to be champ otherwise Simon is."Toby Neal Shropshire Star 17/07/07 |
| A.G.M. - Shropshire Chess in Crisis Shropshire chess faces the prospect of a number of regular events on the chess calendar being scrapped because of a lack of people to organise them. Six posts went unfilled at Shropshire Chess Association¹s annual meeting, the most important of which being that of league controller, which will throw the administration of the league in the new season into doubt. John Casewell stood down from the role after four years, but said he was prepared to give help, support and guidance to a newcomer to the post. However, when it was opened to nominations at the meeting, there was silence. The same was true of the Oswestry rapidplay and the Darwin chess festival as well as the post of captain of the side for players graded under 125; under-100 captain; and Midland Counties Chess Union delegate. However, the meeting was not particularly well attended and it is possible that volunteers will yet come forward to save the day. This year¹s inaugural winter knockout competition will be the first and last. It was organised so that players could get in more chess, but in the event enthusiasm was distinctly lacking. Organiser Derrick Powell said: There were 15 defaults out of 24 possible entrants. Several clubs were not at all interested and the remainder struggled to find teams. The winning team, Telepost B, reached the final by playing only one game. Derrick recommended the competition should be scrapped, and this was agreed. On a brighter note, the Wrekin Chess Congress seems secure. The meeting also heard that a national report on the integrity of the grading system the system by which players¹ strengths are assessed based on their results had found that grades were deflating. For instance, somebody who, 20 years ago, was graded around 70, is today graded around 50. And MCCU officials want the body to become a company limited by guarantee, the main benefit of which would be that if anybody took legal action against it, it would be the company rather than officials and delegates who would be liable. This prompted a discussion at the meeting about what circumstances might lead to legal action against a chess official and whether it was likely to happen. - Toby Neal Shropshire Star 26/06/07 |