By Charles Higgie
Shropshire & Friends 4NCL chess team hit top form last weekend (March 18 and 19) in Daventry. After a disappointing start of the season which saw them with a record of played six, lost five and drawn one, on Saturday they chalked up their first win in style, beating Milton Keynes Phoenix 2. Board 1 Andy Grillage was the first to finish, with a quick win. After three and half hours of play and 49 moves captain Charles Higgie drew on 2, closely followed by wins 5 and 6 by Richard Bryant and Adrian Bailey respectively. Bob Taylor drew on 3. On 4 Glyn Pugh played an interesting exchange sacrifice which eventually led to a queen v two rooks ending which Glyn converted easily to round off a 5-1 win. Full result:
| MK Phoenix 2 | 1698 | Shropshire & Friends | 1853 | |||||
| 351 | w | Valentine, Brian J | 1917 | 0 – 1 | Grillage, Andrew | 1958 c | ||
| 352 | b | Whiteside, Robert | 1813 | ½ – ½ | Higgie, Charles L | 1915 e | ||
| 353 | w | Obi, Okwose Marc | 1744 | ½ – ½ | Taylor, Robert K | 1909 | ||
| 354 | b | Shaw, John S | 1664 | 0 – 1 | Pugh, Glyn D | 1845 e | ||
| 355 | w | Page, Michael | 1499 c | 0 – 1 | Bryant, Richard B E | 1837 | ||
| 356 | b | Cox, Lucian | 1551 e | 0 – 1 | Bailey, Adrian | 1654 |
On Sunday they faced stronger opponents in Barnet Knight B. Glyn Pugh again had an interesting, wild game and won easily. By contrast Charles Higgie had a smooth positional win, straddling his opponent with weak isolated pawns, winning a pawn, and heading into a queen and pawn ending which Charles won with a brave King march up the board. Adrian Bailey held a draw on 6 before Richard Bryant sealed the win a knight up in a pawn ending on 5. Bob Taylor drew on three and Andrew lost on 1 against his highly rated opponent. Full result:
| Shropshire & Friends | 1853 | Barnet Knights B | 2008 | |||||
| 361 | w | Grillage, Andrew | 1958 c | 0 – 1 | Sanitt, Ethan | 2096 e | ||
| 362 | b | Higgie, Charles L | 1915 e | 1 – 0 | Badacsonyi, Stanley | 2143 e | ||
| 363 | w | Taylor, Robert K | 1909 | ½ – ½ | Ethelontis, Alexandros N | 2022 | ||
| 364 | b | Pugh, Glyn D | 1845 e | 1 – 0 | Horan, George | 2004 e | ||
| 365 | w | Bryant, Richard B E | 1837 | 1 – 0 | Sainbayar, Tserendorj | * | 1952 | |
| 366 | b | Bailey, Adrian | 1654 | ½ – ½ | Hung, Jake | * | 1834 e |