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.

A team destined for Div 2

Church Stretton A's hopes of surviving in division 1 appear to have disappeared this week as the team went down 4-1 away to Newport A and fellow-strugglers Telepost B chalked up a win to move further away from the relegation zone. Church Stretton's sole winner at Newport was Gerald Lnk who chalked up a fne win against Tony Holdford.

Newport A 4-1 Church Stretton A
Nick Rutter 1-0 Steve Rooney
Tony Holdford 0-1 Gerald Link
Alex Taylor 1-0 Graham Shepherd
Danny Griffiths 1-0 John Whittaker
Ahtar Mehmood 1-0 Francis Rooney

Church Stretton A v Shrewsbury A

Church Stretton's visit to Shrewsbury A ended in a 4-1 defeat with good draws for Steve Rooney and Tom Williamson the only consolation. The next match against Newport a could prove to be vital as Church Stretton need something from that match to avoid relegation.

Shrewsbury A 4-1 Church Stretton A
P Makepeace 0.5-0.5 S Rooney
D Everington 1-0 G Link
F Best 1-0 G Shepherd
R Cox 1-0 J Whittaker
I Davies 0.5-0.5 T Williamson

B team back on winning trail

The B team won their league match on Thursday 3-2 against Shifnal Telepost C. Wins for Adrian Thorpe and Francis Rooney and draws for Chris Pimm Jones and Tom Williamson clinched the match.

Church Stretton B 3-2 Shifnal Telford C
D Williams 0-1 R Gillespie
A Thorpe 1-0 R Brown
T Williamson 0.5-0.5 P Broderick
C Pimm Jones 0-5-05 T Skidmore
F Rooney 1-0 N Donaldson