Hammersmith Chess Club

Liverpool Chess Club — this year’s host of the British Chess Championships — has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged Hammersmith to a showdown in the North.

🗓 Saturday 8th November
📍 Liverpool
• 3:00–5:00pm – Meet, greet, and soak up the Scouse atmosphere
• 5:00–8:00pm – Match play: Hammer vs Liverpool
• 8:00–10:00pm – Celebrate chess, camaraderie, and the great city of Liverpool

Think you’ve got what it takes to cross Abbey Road with us?
Email John White at jdrw9591@gmail.com

HAMMERFEST 2025

Match 1: Hammer 1 vs Hammer 2
1. Sergiy Teslya (B)  0–1  Cian Ward (W)
2. Christof Brixel (W)  1–0  Greg Billenness (B)
3. Tom Townsend (B)  1–0  Paul Kennelly (W)
4. Bajrush Kelmendi (W)  1–0  Mark Croasdale (B)
5. Andrew Macleod (B)  1–0  Thomas Ewart (W)
Final Score: Hammer 1 – 4 : 1 – Hammer 2

Match 2: Hammer Mackenzie vs Hammer Cadets
6. Danielle Kelly (W)  0–1  Gergana Ilieva (B)
7. Alan McBride (B)  0–1  Max Mouradian (W)
8. Sarah Ewart (W)  1–0  Nico Auffarth (B)
9. Diana Andrade (B)  0–1  Maria Vinyukova (W)
Final Score: Hammer Mackenzie – 1 : 3 – Hammer Cadets

Match 3: Hammer 3 vs Hammer 4
10. Ahmed Ahmed (B)  0–1  Leon Railhac (W)
11. John Ryan (W)  1–0  Ehsan Mojahedi (B)
12. Joe Courtier (B)  1–0  Samrath Singh (W)
13. Florin Toma (W)  1–0  Julien Snell (B)
14. Zayed Ahmed (B)  1–0  Aarya Raina (W)
15. Rebecca Ewart (W)  1–0  Zab Chen (B)
Final Score: Hammer 3 – 5 : 1 – Hammer 4

Next Thursday, 18 September, promises to be one of the biggest nights of the year in London chess – and it’s all happening at the Mindsports Centre.

In a tradition designed to keep the season fair, whenever Hammersmith enters two teams in the same division we schedule the head-to-head derby early. The result? A festival of chess: teammate against teammate, captain against captain, friend against friend – thirty Hammer players across fifteen boards.

Three huge matches line up on the same night:
• Central London League: Hammer 1 vs Hammer 2 (5 boards)
• Middlesex League: Hammer 3 vs Hammer 4 (6 boards)
• London League: Hammer MacKenzie vs Hammer Cadets (4 boards)

All matches will start at 7pm sharp and will be the very first fixtures of the new 2025/26 season. With players ranging from around 2200 ECF strength all the way down to those competing in their first-ever rated game, Hammerfest offers opportunities for every level of member.

The only requirements are that you’ve renewed your Hammersmith and ECF memberships. If you’d like to play on Thursday, please contact our newly elected Club Captain at gastonfranco1990@gmail.com. Future matches, for these and all our other teams, will be organised by the respective team captains.

It’s an all-Hammer spectacular we’re calling HAMMERFEST.

Expect a buzzing club room, tough fights, upsets, rivalries, and no quarter given. Some of the boards will even be broadcast live online – so you can follow the action wherever you are.

Forget “friendly fire” – this is family fire. Every player will be out to prove themselves, and every point will matter when the season tables are counted up.

So come down to the MSC, grab a drink, and soak up what is truly the biggest annual event in London club chess.

Hammerfest: the night the Hammers take on the Hammers.

We’ll be holding a short Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) on Monday 15 September 2025, from 19:30 to 20:00, at the MindSports Centre.

The purpose of the meeting is to consider and vote on:

• A proposed new Constitution for Hammersmith Chess Club (http://hammerchess.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/HCC-Constitution.pdf)
• The accompanying Resolution (http://hammerchess.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/HCC-Resolution.pdf)

We expect business to be brisk — less than 30 minutes — so we can quickly return to the real reason we meet: playing chess.

All members are welcome.

Hammersmith Chess Club invited GM Daniel King once again to present our annual awards for the 2024/25 Season. Danny selected our Game of the Season and showed interesting positions from other nominated games. There were additional prizes for the best players of the season and the winners of our internal tournament series.

Danny kicked things off by scattering a few interesting positions from the games around the room and asking the audience to take a look at them and try to find the best move in each position – this ensured the session would be interactive as members were able to suggest moves, at times even surprising the Grandmaster with their creative ideas.

With his trademark charismatic and engaging style, DK walked us through the critical positions of the games, which were played throughout the season by a wide range of our members at all levels, from amateurs to masters. Indeed, it was possible to spot our top IMs Peter Roberson and Tom Rendle in the audience, as well as the winner of the previous two years, Marco Gallana.

This time, the award went to one of our top juniors, Kai Hanache, for his Round 1 win at the English Championship in July. The game featured a positional queen sacrifice which left Kai’s opponent with very passive pieces and an endangered King, until eventually Kai regained the queen while winning material in the process. Replay the game below, and watch the other nominated games on this Lichess Study

After announcing the winner, Danny also presented awards for various categories and internal tournament winners, all of whom received a certificate and a £10 voucher for Chess & Bridge. The full list of winners is below:

• • Player of the Season: Gaston Franco
  • First Team Player of the Season: Ash Stewart
  • Junior of the Season: Aryaman Ganguly
  • Woman of the Season: Swati Singha
  • Captain of the season: John White
  • Sledgehammer Winner: Sarah Ewart
  • Rockhammer Winner: Nick Fookes
  • Handicap Blitz Winner: Thomas Bonn
  • Game of the Season: Kai Hanache

Many thanks once again to GM Daniel King, who will also analyse the game on his Youtube Channel (PowerPlayChess) soon. He stressed how difficult it has become to select a winner year after year given the club’s increasing success, with more members, more games being played, and more brilliant moves! As the ECF Club of the Year, let’s make it even harder to choose the 2026 Game of the Season!

Hello everyone,

It’s a real honour to be writing this as the new Chairman of Hammersmith Chess Club. I’ve been part of the club for 10 years, and I know how much hard work, friendship, and good humour go into making it what it is.

First of all, I want to pay tribute to my predecessor, John White. It’s impossible to understate how much of our club’s success has been down to him. With his boundless creativity, enthusiasm and generosity, John has led countless initiatives to develop Hammersmith Chess Club into the powerhouse we are today. Without John, the Mindsports Centre that we call our home, simply would not exist.

I’m delighted that John has chosen to remain on the Committee to lead our Events team. He has already been hard at work organising our tour to Marseille in October. It’s guaranteed to be a fantastic weekend, and I’d encourage all of you to come along if possible.

We start this season with some brilliant news — Hammersmith has been named the ECF Club of the Year. That’s down to all of you: the players, volunteers, coaches, and supporters who’ve made our club such a welcoming and ambitious place to play chess. Thank you.

Opening night is Monday, 1st September, and we’re lucky to have GM Daniel King with us to judge our Game of the Season. It should be a great evening — do come along, whether you’re playing, watching, or just catching up over a drink.

This year we’re fielding eighteen teams across four leagues, so whatever your rating or playing style, there’s a place for you. Our Junior Hour and Women & Girls Hour will both be back from Monday, 8th September — two sessions that really show the spirit of the club.

If you’d like to play in a team, please ensure your subs are paid and your ECF membership is up to date. Captains will be in touch with everyone who’s paid up, but do feel free to reach out in advance if there’s a team you particularly wish to play in.

I’m looking forward to seeing old friends, meeting new ones, and enjoying another year of great chess together!

See you over the board,

Adam Cranston
Chairman

The rumours are true – Hammersmith Chess Club has been awarded the prestigious title Club of the Year by the English Chess Federation for 2025.

This recognition is richly deserved and reflects the hard work, dedication, and spirit of everyone involved with our club – from Committee members and Captains to Volunteers and players of all levels.

We are one community and welcome all, regardless of background, ethnicity, colour, religion or gender. We do not judge a chess player by their rating alone – we simply want everyone to embrace being a Hammer and take pride in playing at our club.

This award belongs to every Hammer. Without your enthusiasm, commitment, and love for the game, this would not have been possible.

Our new Chair, Adam Cranston, has great plans for the future, and we encourage every member to support him and the Committee as we move forward together – building on a history that we can all be proud of.

Let’s celebrate Hammersmith Chess Club – ECF Club of the Year 2025!