One of Shropshire’s oldest chess clubs is on the lookout for a new home – for the second time in the space of a year. Shrewsbury Chess Club has announced it will leave the Nerdy Café in Mardol at the end of the 2022/23 season, where it currently meets every other Friday.
The club, which has a decorated history dating back more than a century, only moved to Nerdy in December last year after leaving its long-time home at what is now the Redwoods Centre in Shelton. At the time, the town centre venue seemed ideal for the club, especially as the café is a haven for lovers of board games and has an extensive collection of its own. But the club’s arrangement at Nerdy, which was due to end in February, will not be renewed by the café’s owners. The club has negotiated a deal that will see it stay at Nerdy until the end of the current season in late spring.
Members were told a number of options are being explored for a new venue for matches and club nights at the club’s recent annual general meeting. A statement on the club’s website says: “The club’s hosts have chosen not to extend the current arrangement, which was due to run until February next year, in order to explore other ways of using the space during busy Friday evenings. Being based in the town centre has helped to attract new members and extra interest in the club, while members have also on occasion attended Nerdy’s Quids In social chess evenings on Wednesdays. We are grateful to the Nerdy Café for hosting the cub over the past year and wish them well for the future once the club’s current arrangement comes to an end.”
Meanwhile, the new Shropshire Chess League season has got under way with the first round of fixtures being played in division two. Newport B are the early leaders, returning home from a trip to face Telepost E with an impressive 5-0 whitewash under their belts. Title favourites Telford A got off to a solid start with a 3.5-1.5 win over clubmates Telford B – although the A team’s Mark Keady was the victim of an upset as he was beaten by Dave Hollands on top board. Telepost C came out of a tight derby against their clubs D team with a 3-2 victory in a match where all the games produced a decisive result. The first division one fixtures were being played this week.
In the Junior 4NCL Online League, Shropshire Juniors made it two wins from three matches with a convincing 5-2 win over Chess Challengers E. Henry Bedford and Ellick Spiers both won each of their two matches.