Church Stretton 2 Shrewsbury 0

The A and B teams have chalked up successive wins against local rivals Shrewsbury in the past two weeks.

Last Thursday the B team won 3.5-0.5 against Shrewsbury C, and last night the A team had their best win of the season with a 3.5-1.5 result against Shrewsbury A. The A team's win also put paid to any remaining hopes Shrewsbury A had for the title with Telepost A now confirmed as division 1 champions.

The A team victory was sealed with draws on the top three boards and wins on four and five for Tiago and Graham respectively. Board one saw another short draw between Trevor and Jamie Hopkins - one of these days they'll surprise us with a real competitive game! And on board three Karl's game against Francis best ended in a draw in a position that resembled draughts rather than chess with everything blocked and opposite-coloured bishops to boot. Steve's encounter against David Everington was a draw after only 13 moves but it was far from dull! David played an aggressive line as black in the open Ruy Lopez and sacrificed a bishop on h2 but there was nothing better than a perpetual so a draw was agreed.  Graham overcame Matt Best on board five after the latter slipped up in a promising position, and Tiago played some simple, but very effective chess to outwit Peter Kitchen on four.

Telepost A next, hope they're ready for us!

Church Stretton A 3.5 Shrewsbury A 1.5
T Brotherton 0.5, J Hopkins 0.5
S Rooney 0.5, D Everington 0.5
 K Wakefield 0.5, F Best 0.5
T Faustino 1, P Kitchen 0
G Shepherd 1, M Best 0

The B team's impressive win against Shrewsbury C included wins for Tiago, Francis and James on boards one to three, followed by a draw for captain Tom on board 4. Francis played the game as if it was blitz, but managed to find all the right moves and used control of the central files to emerge a pawn up with a clear win in the king and pawn ending. Tiago's opponent Ian Davies played a bit fast and loose on his king side and was effectively pieces down with a bad bishop on its starting square and a rook that never got into the game. After that the result was never in doubt. James seized on a blunder by his opponent in a position that had previously looked pretty bleak and promptly won, while Tom's game resulted in a queen and pawn ending where neither player fancied taking their chances in a time scramble and agreed the draw.

The B team now take on Newport B and then Newport C. Two wins could get them a third place finish.

Church Stretton B 3.5 Shrewsbury C 0.5
T Faustino 1, I Davies 0
 F Rooney 1, E Inglis 0
J Carless 1, M Best 0
T Williamson 0.5, A Purser 0.5