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.

Another league win for Church Stretton

Church Stretton's second successive win in division 2 cam against Shrewsbury B last Friday.

The match got off to a good start with Steve Rooney's 14-move win against Mark Smith on board one. Chris Pimm Jones got a good draw against Ivor Salter on board five and then boards four went to Shrewsbury and three to Church Stretton's Graham Shepherd.

The final game to finish was Gerald Link's clash on board two against Norman O Connor. The Stretton palyer looked comfortable and was ahead on the clock but overlooked a tactic and lost queen for rook but with just minutes left Norman O Connor decided to play safe and take a draw by repeated checks rather than risk a time scramble.

Shrewsbury B v Church Stretton 2 - 3

M Smith 0, S Rooney 1;
N O Connor 0.5, G Link 0.5;
A Lewis 0, G Shepherd 1;
D Lockett 1, A Thorpe 0;
I Salter 0.5, C Pimm Jones 0.5.

First home match of season brings a win

Church Stretton's first home match resulted in a 4-1 win against neighbours Ludlow.

The visitors only had four players so Francis Rooney chalked up a default on board five straight away. This was followed in just a few minutes by Gerald Link who won in just a dozen moves following his opponent's blunder in the opening. Karl Wakefield on board two was well ahead for most of his game but threw away a knight in the ending and had to hold on for a draw. With the match looking secure, Graham Shepherd agreed a draw in his opposite bishop's ending, leaving Steve Rooney to grind out a win on board one.

Church Stretton 4-1 Ludlow
Steve Rooney 1, B Nickson 0
Karl Wakefield 0.5, R Woodley 0.5
Gerald Link 1, R Tapley 0
Graham Shepherd 0.5, AD Wright 0.5
Francis Rooney 1, Default 0.

Season gets underway for Church Stretton

With just one team being fielded by the club this season, the first match ended in a narrow defeat away at Coddon B.

On board two, Gerald Link looked to have an advantage but his 17 year old opponent Nathanael Paul managed to hold him off for the draw. Chris Pimm Jones lost a vital couple of pawns to Alan Shaw on board five and eventually lost. Then another of Coddon's juniors, Peter Mellor held off an attack from Church Stretton board 3 Adrian Thorpe to clinch a draw leaving the two Rooneys to finish.

Francis Rooney, on board four, had fended off a strong king side attack from his opponent and managed to get to an endgame with a couple of pawns for a piece, but his open king position eventually led to the loss of another piece and he promptly resigned. On board one Steve Rooney felt a little guilty about keeping the team there while he ground out a win against Shropshire league newcomer Marvin Carbin. Rooney had a positional advantage from early in the game and after a lengthy battle managed to convert this into a two-pawn advantage and then with a further piece about to fall his opponent resigned.

The Church Stretton club would be delighted to welcome new members who live in the area and who want to play either league or casual chess. The club meets on Thursdays at the town's District Club in Essex Road, for more information call Steve Rooney on 01694 723724.


Coddon B v Church Stretton
M Carbin 0-1 Steve Rooney
N Paul 0.5-0.5 G Link
P Mellor 0.5-0.5 A Thorpe
G Viszokai 1-0 F Rooney
A Shaw 1-0 C Pimm Jones

League seasons starts 23 September

The Shropshire league season for Church Stretton kicks off on 23 September with an away match for the A team against Coddon B in division 2.

Regrettably it has been decided that it is not possible to run a B team this season as there are not enough players available. We will however try to run more club nights on Thursdays to give more opportunities for casual chess. Please feel free to turn up on Thursdays to join us.