Author: David Steyn

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.