The A team's final league match this season ended in defeat away to Shifnal & Telford. We don't like making excuses but the juke box thundering into life from the upstairs bar half an hour into the match was not conducive to serious chess, at least for boards one and two who were sited right underneath.
A win for Trevor and draws for Karl and Tiago (undefeated till the end!) were countered by losses for Steve and Graham.
Shifnal Telford A 3-2 Church Stretton A
J Footner 0, T Brotherton 1
D Gostelow 1, S Rooney 0
I Wilson 0.5, K Wakefield 0.5
R Gillespie 0.5, T Faustino 0.5
R Thompson 1, G Shepherd 0.
Saturday, 31 March 2012
Friday, 23 March 2012
Strong finish for B team
The B team have continued their strong finish to the season with a convincing victory over Newport C to end up in third place in division three. Wins for Tiago, Francis and James and a draw for James led them to a 3.5-0.5 win.
The side have only lost once since Christmas, and Tiago's arrival has given them a real boost - he has chalked up four wins and two draws to remain undefeated.
Newport C 0.5-3.5 Church Stretton B
W Gormley 0, T Faustino 1
D Lovegrove 0, F Rooney 1
S Davies 0.5, C Pimm-Jones 0.5
M Price 0, J Carless 1.
Meanwhile the A team took on Telepost A who were confirmed champions after Shrewsbury lost on their recent outing to Church Stretton. At one stage it looked like Stretton were going to chalk up a double against the Shrewsbury sides, with both Gerald and Graham having clear advantages on boards four and five, but both games ended in draws. On board one Trevor's pet Nc6 in the French Tarrasch did its work again as Nigel Ferrington couldn't get any advantage out of the opening and a draw was agreed.
Board three was a different story however as Karl went a piece down to Paul Zabrocki and eventually lost. But captain Steve Rooney had a bit of luck on board two in the final game to finish. An earlier pawn sacrifice gave Steve some space and development advantage but a second pawn sac looked a tad too optimistic until opponent Richard Bryant missed a wining continuation and allowed a swindle in the final rook and pawn ending for Steve to force a draw. Th A team's final game is next week at Shifnal & Telford.
Church Stretton A 2-3 Telepost A
S Rooney 0.5, R Bryant 0.5
K Wakefield 0, P Zabrocki 1
G Link 0.5, P Crean 0.5
G Shepherd 0.5, K Tabner 0.5
Friday, 9 March 2012
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
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
Friday, 24 February 2012
Safety in numbers for A team
A resounding win away at Wellington A means that it is just about certain that the A team will remain in division 1.
After losing two match on the trot at Priorslee Lions A and Newport A, the team bounced back with a 4.5-0.5 win at Wellington. Karl Wakefield started off with an early win when his opponent blundered and this was followed by a win for Trevor Brotherton on top board. On board 4, recent recuit Tiago Faustino had started the match with an unbeaten record in both A and B team games, but made life difficult for himself with a tangle of doubled pawns and misplaced pieces. But he has an eye for outplaying his opponents in what look like unpromising endgames and managed to pull off another win, sealing the mach for the away team. A win for Graham Shepherd on board five and a draw for Steve Rooney on two, finished the evening off in style.
With three tough matches left against three of the top four clubs, it was vital that we got some points at Wellington who were one of the teams that could have caught us up. Coming away with a win was a perfect result for us.
The previous match against Newport saw us without top board Trevor who was unwell, leaving Steve Rooney to take on county number one Nick Rutter who had a grading advantage of around 40 points. A long gruelling game resulted in what looked like a fairly level final position but the clock intervened and Nick won on time. Gavin Cooper on board two also proved too strong for Karl Wakefield but the other three boards saw welcome draws for Stretton players Tiago Faustino, Gerald Link and Graham Shepherd.
Priorslee Lions A 3-2 Church Stretton A
G Pugh 0.5-0.5 T Brotherton
W Bates 1-0 S Rooney
J O'Neil 1-0 K Wakefield
J Tunks 0-1 G Link
M Carbin 0.5-0.5 G Shepherd
Church Stretton A 1.5-3.5 Newport A
S Rooney 0-1 N Rutter
K Wakefield 0-1 G Cooper
T Faustino 0.5-0.5 N Paul
G Link 0.5-0.5 C Lewis
G Shepherd 0.5-0.5 D Griffiths
Wellington A 0.5-4.5 Church Stretton A
C Roberts 0-1 T Brotherton
T Neal 0.5-0.5 S Rooney
J Lenton 0-1 K Wakefield
D Powell 0-1 T Faustino
D Ogundipe 0-1 G Shepherd
After losing two match on the trot at Priorslee Lions A and Newport A, the team bounced back with a 4.5-0.5 win at Wellington. Karl Wakefield started off with an early win when his opponent blundered and this was followed by a win for Trevor Brotherton on top board. On board 4, recent recuit Tiago Faustino had started the match with an unbeaten record in both A and B team games, but made life difficult for himself with a tangle of doubled pawns and misplaced pieces. But he has an eye for outplaying his opponents in what look like unpromising endgames and managed to pull off another win, sealing the mach for the away team. A win for Graham Shepherd on board five and a draw for Steve Rooney on two, finished the evening off in style.
With three tough matches left against three of the top four clubs, it was vital that we got some points at Wellington who were one of the teams that could have caught us up. Coming away with a win was a perfect result for us.
The previous match against Newport saw us without top board Trevor who was unwell, leaving Steve Rooney to take on county number one Nick Rutter who had a grading advantage of around 40 points. A long gruelling game resulted in what looked like a fairly level final position but the clock intervened and Nick won on time. Gavin Cooper on board two also proved too strong for Karl Wakefield but the other three boards saw welcome draws for Stretton players Tiago Faustino, Gerald Link and Graham Shepherd.
Priorslee Lions A 3-2 Church Stretton A
G Pugh 0.5-0.5 T Brotherton
W Bates 1-0 S Rooney
J O'Neil 1-0 K Wakefield
J Tunks 0-1 G Link
M Carbin 0.5-0.5 G Shepherd
Church Stretton A 1.5-3.5 Newport A
S Rooney 0-1 N Rutter
K Wakefield 0-1 G Cooper
T Faustino 0.5-0.5 N Paul
G Link 0.5-0.5 C Lewis
G Shepherd 0.5-0.5 D Griffiths
Wellington A 0.5-4.5 Church Stretton A
C Roberts 0-1 T Brotherton
T Neal 0.5-0.5 S Rooney
J Lenton 0-1 K Wakefield
D Powell 0-1 T Faustino
D Ogundipe 0-1 G Shepherd
Friday, 17 February 2012
B team still in the running
Church Stretton B still has an outside chance of promotion from division 3 after a 3-1 away win at Oswestry.
Since the new year the team has also beaten Telepost D 3-1 but went down by the margin to division 3 leaders Shifnal & Telford C. The team have three matches left in the season, including fixtures against two of the teams above them Newport b and Shrewsbury C.
Telepost D 1-3 Church Stretton B
S Sweeney 0-1 T Faustino
B Holford 0-1 F Rooney
G Lyon 0-1 A Thorpe
A Cliff 1-0 C Pimm-Jones
Church Stretton B 1-3 Shifnal & Telford C
T Faustino 0.5-0.5 S Maydew
E Elwell 0.5-0.5 R Brown
F Rooney 0-1 R Szwajkun
T Williamson 0-1 S Szwajkun
Oswestry B 1-3 Church Stretton B
R Thomson 0-1 T Faustino
J Davies 1-0 F Rooney
B Evans 0-1 T Williamson
A Evans 0-1 J Carless
Since the new year the team has also beaten Telepost D 3-1 but went down by the margin to division 3 leaders Shifnal & Telford C. The team have three matches left in the season, including fixtures against two of the teams above them Newport b and Shrewsbury C.
Telepost D 1-3 Church Stretton B
S Sweeney 0-1 T Faustino
B Holford 0-1 F Rooney
G Lyon 0-1 A Thorpe
A Cliff 1-0 C Pimm-Jones
Church Stretton B 1-3 Shifnal & Telford C
T Faustino 0.5-0.5 S Maydew
E Elwell 0.5-0.5 R Brown
F Rooney 0-1 R Szwajkun
T Williamson 0-1 S Szwajkun
Oswestry B 1-3 Church Stretton B
R Thomson 0-1 T Faustino
J Davies 1-0 F Rooney
B Evans 0-1 T Williamson
A Evans 0-1 J Carless
Thursday, 19 January 2012
A team grinds out win at Ludlow
A good start to the second half of the season with a win at Ludlow.
Just before Christmas we heard from a new recruit, Tiago, who had arrived in Stretton from Portugal and he looks like being a very useful player. We got him straight in the team and he played on board 4 against Ludlow and quickly snatched a win, but then had to wait a couple of hours for the rest of us.
Chris Pimm-Jones stood in for the team and got a well-earned draw on board 5 leaving the result hanging on the top three boards. Graham Shepherd was up on material but his opponent's troublesome passed pawns caused him problems and he resigned after a slip at the time control. Trevor Brotherton thought he had a slight edge in his endgame on board one but having won a very tight game in the last few seconds at the Shropshire Congress the previous weekend, he decided not to chance his luck again and agreed a draw. This left Steve Rooney who had seen off a deadly-looking attack early on and then won a piece, to clinch the match with a win on board 2.
Next up is Priorslee Lions on 23 January.
Ludlow A 2 Church Stretton 3
1 J Watson 0.5, T Brotherton 0.5
2 J Whittaker 0, S Rooney 1
3 J Lawley 1, G Shepherd 0
4 R Woodley 0, T Faustino 1
5 P Munday 0.5, C Pimm-Jones 0.5.
Just before Christmas we heard from a new recruit, Tiago, who had arrived in Stretton from Portugal and he looks like being a very useful player. We got him straight in the team and he played on board 4 against Ludlow and quickly snatched a win, but then had to wait a couple of hours for the rest of us.
Chris Pimm-Jones stood in for the team and got a well-earned draw on board 5 leaving the result hanging on the top three boards. Graham Shepherd was up on material but his opponent's troublesome passed pawns caused him problems and he resigned after a slip at the time control. Trevor Brotherton thought he had a slight edge in his endgame on board one but having won a very tight game in the last few seconds at the Shropshire Congress the previous weekend, he decided not to chance his luck again and agreed a draw. This left Steve Rooney who had seen off a deadly-looking attack early on and then won a piece, to clinch the match with a win on board 2.
Next up is Priorslee Lions on 23 January.
Ludlow A 2 Church Stretton 3
1 J Watson 0.5, T Brotherton 0.5
2 J Whittaker 0, S Rooney 1
3 J Lawley 1, G Shepherd 0
4 R Woodley 0, T Faustino 1
5 P Munday 0.5, C Pimm-Jones 0.5.
Monday, 19 December 2011
4th and 5th at Christmas
The unbeaten record for the B team fell in the final match before Christmas with a 2.5-1.5 loss to Newport C. The match got off to a quick start with a win for Francis Rooney on board 1 within 30 minutes. But Newport's junior Jonathan Newey levelled the score later on with a win on board 3 and after Adrian Thorpe lost on board 2, it was down to home captain Tom Williamson to try and win his match. Despite being an exchange up, Tom couldn't quite find a way through and agreed a draw which saw the team's first defeat of the season after five straight draws.
Meanwhile the A team suffered their third successive 4-1 defeat, this time at the hands of Shifnal & Telford A. Top board Trevor Brotherton was forced to pull out at the last minute which meant everyone shunted up a board and Eric Elwell valiantly turned out at short notice to play on board 5. The only win came for Graham Shepherd on board 4. It was always going to be a tough run-up to Christmas with the final three matches against strong sides, and the A team will be aiming to get a good start again when the second half of the season starts in January.
Meanwhile the A team suffered their third successive 4-1 defeat, this time at the hands of Shifnal & Telford A. Top board Trevor Brotherton was forced to pull out at the last minute which meant everyone shunted up a board and Eric Elwell valiantly turned out at short notice to play on board 5. The only win came for Graham Shepherd on board 4. It was always going to be a tough run-up to Christmas with the final three matches against strong sides, and the A team will be aiming to get a good start again when the second half of the season starts in January.
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