Prologue
This is a five round Swiss tournament for the titles Shrewsbury Town Champion (overall winner) and Shrewsbury Town U140 Champion (highest score by a player graded under 140).
The tournament is open to any player but every match must be played in the town either at Telepost Chess Club or at Shrewsbury Chess Club.
All games will be played under league rules (95 minutes each on the clock to complete all moves) and will be submitted for grading.
The tournament will run from May 2010 until September 2010.
I will publish each round on the internet and by e-mail.
Players must agree date and venue with their opponent – the player with white will be regarded as the home player. Please pay entry fee of £2-00 in due course to the club treasurer at either of the two host chess clubs.
This inaugural tournament is intended to enliven the summer chess scene in the town by giving players of whatever standard an opportunity to play five competitive games and sample the hospitality afforded to their guests by the town's chess clubs.
Club nights are :-
Tuesday = Telepost Chess Club *** Friday = Shrewsbury Chess Club
(As a last resort it is usually possible to play at Telepost Club on other evenings
- but if so please ring the clubhouse 01743 248205 beforehand )

Here is the Round 5 draw.
This is the final round for completion during September if possible. Please don't forget to email your result to me. Should there be a tie then the sum of progressive scores will decide places.
Good luck and enjoy. - Keith Tabner

Trevor Brotherton has withdrawn from the tournament.

Your comments
Hi Keith, - I lost my game against Nigel - one of those where the position looked very innocuous in a quiet middlegame... then suddenly after a little probing from a pesky knight I couldn't defend my kingside. Ruthlessly efficient from Nigel, a learning experience for me. Peter Kitchen 01/09/2010

Keith - I managed two shameful swindles to beat Richard Bryant in round 4 tonight. He first lost his Q for 2B and 2p and probably still had a winning position: then he gifted me a cheapo to get his rook and I still had to work at it so as not to lose on time. As Edward Lasker once wrote: "the equalising injustice of chess......"
David Everington 10/08/2010

I was extremely fortunate to beat Matthew Clark in our game last night - Matthew completely outplayed me for most of the game and was a solid exchange up when the queens came off. Fortunately for me I had a passed a-pawn and a couple of minor pieces which caused enough of a nuisance to break through. Matthew played very well and deserved a lot more. Peter Kitchen 21/07/2010

Q - .My opponent was unwell on the day we were due to play our match and phoned to postpone. Can I now claim the game?
A.- That's unfortunate. Clearly you both wish to play the match - otherwise you wouldn't have entered the event in the first place. Fortunately the event runs until September so there is plenty of time to agree a new date.
I don't propose to make any rulings on unplayed games until mid Sept when the majority of results are known. Keith Tabner 22/05/2010

Hi Keith - Steve should have beaten me after about 4 moves - but somehow I got out of it and eventually with two doubled sets of pawns I ground out a draw - .Vinny Crean 25/05/2010

Hi Keith -I won my game against Charles Micallef last night. In a Sicilian Dragon I was two pawns up after 19 moves but he fought back and got strong counterplay on the kingside. I was perhaps fortunate Charles swapped off the last pair of rooks to enter a lost king and pawn endgame – with a rook each I was better but I would still have had a lot to do to win. As it was I won in just over 40 moves.
He told me afterwards how he had got results against both Richard Bryant and yourself in Telepost's club championship. Judging by David Everington's comments about his round one game with Maisy Pugh, it's clear there are a lot of players in Telepost's C team who are improving rapidly and are very difficult to beat.
I've got a tough one as black against John Bashall next – I've played him twice before, both as black, losing once and drawing once.
Richard Bryant's win in your club championship last night looked very impressive too.- Peter Kitchen 12/05/2010

Hi Keith - I managed to beat Shane by the narrowest of margins when down to my last 10 seconds and Shane having 3/4 of an hour remaining. There's only an 85 point grading difference between us! - John Bashall 06/05/2010

Keith - I won against Maisy Pugh tonight. Quite a tense game - She probably got the better of the opening and seems quite a bit better than her estimated grade! - David Everington 04/05/2010

Hi Keith - Well done for organizing the Town Championship. It looks like you have a good number now. If you need anything else, just let me know, and thanks again for your efforts in starting this new initiative. - Francis Best 17/04/2010