More dates for social chess at Condover

Further dates have been agreed for chess at the Condover Social Club, which has been our new venue for Church Stretton since having to leave the club in the town.

Tuesdays on the following dates at 8.00pm

9 April

23 April 

7 May

21 May

4 June

18 June

2 July

16 July

Safe in division one!

Having stayed well out of the relegation zone all season, we are now safe in division one for next season, with a clear victory 4.5-0.5 over Shifnal Telford A helping us stay in the top flight.

Two tough matches followed but we managed to hold Shrewsbury A to a fine draw, and had some chances to win the match. Telepost A didn't go quite so well and we struggled without Trevor on top board.

Our final two matches are against the two relegated teams. Then we have the small matter of defending the Cox trophy which we won last summer.

Next match is Tue 26, home at Condover. We are aiming to continue the social chess at Condover after Easter and will publish the dates shortly.

NEW VENUE FOR CLUB!

As a result of changes at the District Club in Church Stretton we have had to find a new home and we have agreed to play our remaining home league matches at the Condover District Club which meets on alternate Tuesdays.

There is already a healthy social chess scene at Condover, something we have lacked at Church Stretton for a while, so it should be a good fit. Once we have completed the league fixtures we will make a decision on whether to stay there permanently.

Next match is Tue 12 Feb against Shrewsbury A, to be played at Condover.

Spoils shared at Priorslee

A draw against Priorslee was a fair result which keeps us poking our head above the relegation zone. We will have to pick up some points in the matches against the two teams below us though. Trevor won easily, while Steve lost easily after John had also succumbed. Graham chalked up a nice win against Andy Tunks, and Francis had the better of his encounter but agreed a draw when after a complicated middle game battle resulted in a rook ending.

Priorslee Lions A 2.5-2.5 Church Stretton
W Bates 0, T Brotherton 1
G Pugh 1, S Rooney 0
J O'Neil 1, J Whittaker 0
A Tunks 0, G Shepherd 1
J Tunks 0.5, F Rooney 0.5.

Valiant effort but no prizes

Newport A didn't have their strongest possible team but still managed to comfortably outgrade us on all boards. In the event, a 3-2 defeat wasn't a bad result with solid draws for Trevor and Graham and a win for Steve following some rather rash late play by his opponent Gavyn Cooper.

Church Stretton 2-3 Newport A
T Brotherton 0.5, N Rutter 0.5
S Rooney 1, G Cooper 0
J Whittaker 0, N Paul 1
G Shepherd 0.5, A Holdford 0.5
C Pimm-Jones 0, C Paul 1.

Steady half season

What could be described as a steady half season saw Church Stretton finish a couple of points above the relegation zone in Div 1.

Solid home win against Shifnal Telford A on 1 Nov.

Church Stretton 3.5-1.5 Shifnal Telford A
T Brotherton 0.5, D Gostelow 0.5
S Rooney 0.5, N Nazif 0.5
J Whittaker 1, R Gillespie 0
G Shepherd 0.5, W Peck 0.5
F Rooney 1, Default 0.

Followed by a predictable defeat against Telepost with our top board Trevor missing.

Church Stretton 0.4-4.5 Telepost A
S Rooney 0, N Ferrington 1
G Shepherd 0, R Bryant 1
D Hancock 0.5, P Zabrocki 0.5
F Rooney 0, K Tabner 1
C Pimm-Jones 0, J Westhead 1.


Poor result away at Shifnal Telford B

Shifnal Telford B 3.5-1.5 Church Stretton
R Thompson 0, T Brotherton 1
S Maydew 0.5, S Rooney 0.5
W Peck 1, G Shepherd 0
R Szwajkun 1, F Rooney 0
S Tennant 1, Default 0.

And a welcome whitewash against Telepost B

Church Stretton 5-0 Telepost B
T Brotherton 1, N Kiffin 0
S Rooney 1, M Clark 0
J Whittaker 1, J Westhead 0
G Shepherd 1, C Micallef 0
F Rooney 1, J Casewell 0.

Top Shrews

Shrewsbury pulled out all the stops to get their top team out, including David Everington on board five! Both Rooneys had winning chances but it was the match that got away.

Shrewsbury  A 4-1 Church Stretton

P Makepeace 0.5, T Brotherton 0.5 

J Hopkins 0.5, S Rooney 0.5

F Best 1, G Shepherd 0

P Kitchen 1, F Rooney 0

D Everington 1, J Carless 0.