Shrewsbury took the honours in a friendly county town derby match which marks another step towards a resumption of chess action in Shropshire.
With no face to face games possible, the encounter between a Telepost side going as Telepost Dark Nights and a Shrewsbury team called Shrewsbury Light Squares was played online and the result was 4.5-6.5 in favour of Shrewsbury. Telepost were outgraded on all boards, and some players were playing their first full format games online. Telepost winners were Matthew Clark, Kate Walker, James Holyhead, and Shane Sweeney, with Shrewsbury winners Francis Best, Dan Lockett, Stephen Priestley, Jim Wilkinson, Norman O’Connor and Tony Purser. There was one draw, between John Westhead and Mark Smith.
Shropshire individual championship is also being launched this week, with 14 entrants, again with games being played online, despite a strong objection from Eugene Raby that playing such a prestigious tournament over the internet would devalue it. Other regular entrants are not taking part because, as is the case with a number of Shropshire players, they simply don’t like playing chess online.