Shrewsbury Chess Club

18/09/2026

"It obviously feels great to have won the tournament with a 100 per cent record - especially considering the opponents I had to face."

Shane Greenwood enjoyed a club championship to remember as he won his maiden title - with a perfect score to boot.

He spoke to the club's website about his achievement and the challenges he faced along the way.

Read our in-depth look at Shane's campaign and his reaction here: https://shrewsburychessclub.org/glorious-greenwood-completes-a-clean-sweep-to-secure-maiden-title/

18/09/2026

**OPENING FIXTURES FOR NEW SEASON UNVEILED**

Shrewsbury's four teams have received their Shropshire Chess League fixtures for the first two months of the 2026/27 - including our first ever Monday night fixture at Cromwell's next week.

Shrewsbury D will play their first fixture in some 30 years this Monday (September 21) - and it's a tasty inter-club derby against Shrewsbury C in division three.

That match will be the inaugural Monday night home fixture - to incorporate a fourth team, both the B and D teams will play their home matches in Monday nights.

The other teams must wait until October to get started.

Shrewsbury A are due to host Telford A in division one on October 7 and Shrewsbury C are at home to Newport B in division three on the same night, although one of these fixtures may be moved to the Monday of that week for space reasons.

Shrewsbury B begin their division two campaign on October 12 at home to Maddocks B.

Early fixtures:

Monday Sept 21: Shrewsbury D v Shrewsbury C (division three)
*Wednesday Oct 7: Shrewsbury A v Telford A (division one)
*Wednesday Oct 7: Shrewsbury C v Newport B (division three)
Thursday Oct 8: Maddocks Junior v Shrewsbury D (division three)
Monday Oct 12: Shrewsbury B v Maddocks B (division two)
Tuesday Oct 20: Darwinian Knights C v Shrewsbury D (division three)
Tuesday Oct 20: Newport Rooks v Shrewsbury C (division three)
Wednesday Oct 21: Oswestry A v Shrewsbury A (division one)
Wednesday Oct 28: Telford C v Shrewsbury B (division two)

*Fixture TBC

We hope to have a full fixture list for all four sides confirmed very soon!

17/09/2026

Another incredible club night at Cromwell’s Tap House last night!

Twenty-four people crammed into our playing room over the course of the night. Those present ranged from a junior player making their first visit (and we hope they had a great time!) to an appearance from the county's junior organiser Chris Lewis.

Again, there was a terrific friendly vibe throughout the night and some great chess played too.

Club nights are every Wednesday at Cromwell's, starting at 7.30pm. Players of all abilities and experience can come along - you are assured of a warm welcome!

14/09/2026

A massive thank you to everyone who represented the club at the weekend at the annual team quickplay tournament!

Having initially planned to field two teams, we were hit by a number of unavoidable withdrawals and eventually fielded one team in the Open section, captained by Nigel Ferrington.

We were able to field Ray Sayers on loan from Church Stretton - and we're extremely grateful to Ray for turning out for us.

It did give some of our players more used to playing in division three the chance to play higher quality opposition over a quicker time control.

The team finished third out of the four teams, narrowly missing out on the runners up spot to hosts Maddocks A.

Shrewsbury squad: Nigel Ferrington (c), Ray Sayers, Phil Zabrocki, Kate Bears and Richard Beard.

Nick Nuthall was loaned to Maddocks to help make up numbers in teams - and inflicted some damage in his parent club during the tournament!

Thanks also to Paula Sharp, who had initially agreed to play for our Minor team in loan from Darwinian Knights but was released to help fill teams.

And a final thank you to organiser Connor Oswin for putting on the event

13/09/2026

They were up against "ruthless opponents from across the Cheshire border who showed no mercy".

Here's the full report on a difficult opening day of the season for Shrewsbury Pirates in division four of 4NCL Online:

Shrewsbury Pirates were well beaten by local rivals Malpas & Friends A in their opening fixture of the new 4NCL Online season. The Pirates were whitewashed 4-0 in their division four opener by ruthless opponents from just across the Cheshire border who showed no mercy, writes Peter Kitchen. Richard....

12/09/2026

We have a new club champion!

Shane Greenwood (pictured right) clinched his maiden crown by defeating Fred Bennett in the final round to complete a hugely impressive clean sweep - five wins from five games!

Fred deserves huge credit for giving Shane probably his toughest game of the entire tournament - considering Shane has defeated three first team players along the way, that's quite an achievement!

For a while, Fred (pictured left) was attempting to seize the initiative, advancing his pawns down the board in the late middlegame. But Greenwood ground out a rook ending a pawn up to secure the title.

A massive congratulations to Shane, and a big thank you to everyone who has helped make up a record field of 24 players this year!

Full report to follow soon at www.shrewsburychessclub.org, and many thanks to Dan Lockett for the picture.

09/09/2026

We've had just the best news tonight.

About a year ago, club member Nick Holmes became very unwell. He's been very much missed by all.

We're delighted to say that tonight, after months steadily recovering, he made his first return to a club night at Cromwell's. He seemed to thoroughly enjoy the friendly games he was playing, plus catching up with people.

It was amazing to see you back Nick - definitely one of our highlights of the year!

(With thanks to Dan Lockett for the pictures 😊)

08/09/2026

**PIRATES WASHED UP AFTER HUMBLING DEFEAT**

Shrewsbury Pirates were well beaten by Malpas & Friends A in tonight's opening 4NCL Online division four match of the season.

The Pirates went down 4-0 against a Malpas second string that outrated Shrewsbury on every board.

Tony Purser put up the most resistance on top board in a game that lasted almost two hours before being checkmated by Alan Llewellyn in move 54.

The opposition included Peter Crean - father of new Shrewsbury recruit Vinnie - who defeated Pedro Perez Dominguez on board four.

Full scores (Shrewsbury colours in brackets):

Shrewsbury Pirates 0-4 Malpas & Friends A
1. Tony Purser (w) 0-1 Alan Llewellyn
2. Nick Nuthall (b) 0-1 Elliot Ainley
3. Richard Vernon (w) 0-1 Moussa Khalil Hameidi
4. Pedro Perez Dominguez (b) 0-1 Peter Crean

The Pirates will be back on the online seas in two weeks time - hopefully it will be a smoother voyage.

08/09/2026

Shrewsbury Pirates set sail on their latest adventure tonight (Tuesday) with the return of 4NCL Online.

The Pirates are in division four once again for their third campaign - and kick off with what in national league terms could be considered a local-ish derby against st Malpas & Friends A.

Despite the name, it's the opposition's second team we are up against.

Games can be watched live on Lichess by searching for the handles of players as in the picture.

Go get 'em Pirates - arrrrgggh! 🏴‍☠️

08/09/2026

As club nights go, last Wednesday was something of a whirlwind.

What started as a usual night with some competitive club championship matches and social games ended with six new players signed up from our old rivals Telepost and a seismic shift in the local chess landscape as the county town went from three clubs to two.

Read the full story about how Telepost's players came on board here:

A bright new future lies in wait for Shrewsbury Chess Club after the club joined forces with old rivals Telepost. Six players – including the county’s top player Nigel Ferrington – have signed for the club after it emerged Telepost would no longer be able to carry on competing in the Shropshir...