Shropshire Under 18s take on the UK's best

Shropshire juniors took on top teams from around the country in the National Youth Chess Association under 18 event held at Abraham Darby School, Telford on Saturday (26 September).

Although the eight-board team were heavily outgraded in all their four matches, there were some very good individual performances including Nathanael Paul on board 3 (2.5/4); Francis Rooney on board 5 (2/4) and Mark Richards on board 7 (2/4). There was also an under 14 event held on the same day in which Shropshire junior Athar Mehmood played with the Staffordshire team on top board, scoring 3/4 and winning a board prize.

Shropshire U18 team and club: 1. Craig Whitfield (Staffs) 2. Ieuan Fenton (Oswestry) 3. Nathanael Paul (Coddon) 4. Peter Mellor (Coddon) 5. Francis Rooney (Shrewsbury/Church Stretton) 6. Chris Lovejoy (Shrewsbury) 7. Mark Richards (Newport) 8. Matthew Best (Shrewsbury)