Winning start for Church Stretton

A 5-0 victory away against Newport B got us off to a great start in our first match of the season.

Gerald Link was first to take a point, confidently rebutting Dave Lovegrove's ambitious opening (1.e4 c5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. Qh5) then winning a central pawn followed by a piece before forcing resignation when about to win a queen and mate.

Graham Shepherd followed after overpowering Richard Szwajkun and Richard's dad Steve was beaten by Tom Williamson after dropping a piece in an ending that was probably winning for Tom anyway. Francis Rooney calmly absorbed a lot of pressure and pounced on a couple of fatal blunders in his match against newcomer Willie Gormley. Finally Steve Rooney made it a clean sweep when his attack on Steve Cooper's king finally forced resignation in response to a horrible pin and mating threats.

Next match is home to Oswestry A on 4 November.

Successful simul

Many thanks to Trevor Brotherton for taking on nine Church Stretton players in a simul at the club last week.

As expected, Trevor scored very well, conceding just two draws against Graham Shepherd and Steve Rooney. However Trevor admitted that he had to work hard to win on the other seven boards, especially against Mary Whittle who mounted a sharp attack on Trevor's king which really got him thinking.

Many thanks to all those who took part and especially Trevor.

Trevor to take on allcomers

One of the county's top players Trevor Brotherton is to take on allcomers at Church Stretton chess club next Thursday 30 September in a simultaneous match.

Trevor is graded well above any of his likely contenders at Church Stretton but hopefully some of the locals will put up a bit of a fight!

New members are very welcome at the club's regular Thursday night chess session at the District Club, Essex Road, Church Stretton, from 7.30pm.

New season fixtures

The fixtures for 2010-11 season have now been published - see details on right hand panel.

We are only running one team again this year but this means there is plenty of opportunity to get along to the club for our new regular club night on Thursdays. See you there.

Regular club night on Thursdays

Come and play casual chess at Church Stretton Chess Club. We are now meeting regularly on Thursdays from 7.30pm at the District Club, Esses Road. 

The club runs teams in the Shropshire league and welcomes visitors and new members. We are now meeting each week for casual chess fun up to the school summer holidays  and then weekly again from September.

If you can play chess at any level, or would like to learn, please just turn up on a Thursday.

Church Stretton ended the season in third slot in Division 2, just behind the second promotion slot on points difference to Coddon B.

Individual performances included Steve Rooney 8.5/10, Graham Shepherd 6/9, Gerald Link 5/7 and Francis Rooney 4.5/8

Results for the second half of the season below:

Church Stretton v Shrewsbury B 2 - 3

G Link 1, A Lewis 0

G Shepherd 1, I Davies 0

D Williams 0, D Lockett 1

T Williamson 0, I Salter 1

F Rooney 0, M Best 1.

Telepost B v Church Stretton 4.5 - 0.5

J Westhead 0.5, S Rooney 0.5

P Zabrocki 1, G Shepherd 0

R Simpson 1, F Rooney 0

P Crean 1, Default 0

S Kempsell 1, C Pimm Jones 0.


Ludlow A v Church Stretton 1.5 - 3.5

B Nickson 0, S Rooney 1

J Whittaker 0, G Shepherd 1

R F Woodley 1, A Thorpe 0

P G Munday 0, F Rooney 1

K Thomson 0.5, C Pimm Jones 0.5.

Church Stretton v Shifnal Telford C 3 - 2

S Rooney 0.5, W Peck 0.5

G Shepherd 1, R Gillespie 0

A Thorpe 0.5, R Brown 0.5

F Rooney 1, A Carr 0

C Pimm Jones 0, T Skidmore 1.

Church Stretton v Coddon B 3 - 2

G Link 1, M Carbin 0

G Shepherd 1, E Raby 0

A Thorpe 1, N Paul 0

C Pimm Jones 0, G Viszokai 1

T Williamson 0, A Pickles 1. 

Newport B v Church Stretton 1.5 - 3.5

S Cooper 0, S Rooney 1

S Davies 0, G Link 1

J Allan 1, A Thorpe 0

R Szwajkun 0, F Rooney 1

S Szwajkun 0.5, C Pimm Jones 0.5. 

 

League update

Church Stretton have finished the first half of the season with 7 points from 6 six games, ending up in in tiop half Many thanks to everyone who has played in the team so far and best wishes to David Williams who is still recovering from a broken leg and we hope to see him back in the new year!

The other teams in the division still have a game to go but we should end up in the top four to date - still with a chance of promotion.

Here are the rest of the results so far.

Church Stretton v Telepost B 2.5 - 2.5
S Rooney 0.5, J Westhead 0.5
G Shepherd 0.5, J Bashall 0.5
E Elwell 0, P Crean 1
F Roooney 0.5, S Kempsell 0.5
T Williamson 1, V Crean 0.

Church Stretton v Newport B 3.5 - 1.5
S Rooney 1, A Tunks 0
A Thorpe 0, S Cooper 1
F Rooney 1, S Davies 0
T Williamson 1, P Broderick 0
C Pimm Jones 0.5, D Lovegrove 0.5.

Shifnal & Telford C v Church Stretton A 4 - 1
W Peck 0, S Rooney 1
J Kenderdine 1, G Link 0
R Gillespie 1, G Shepherd 0
A Carr 1, C Pimm-Jones 0
T Skidmore 1, Default 0.