Club Updates – Hammersmith Chess Club

The Epsom Challenge & Summer Updates!

Hammers – with all regular league fixtures now complete, and the Summer Chess League well under way, attention once again turns to our Summer activities.

We’re delighted to announce some additional events at the Albion this year, with no fewer than THREE training lectures being added to the programme.

First up on 1st July will be Jim ‘El Loco’ Stevenson, with a repeat of last years highly successful format of a guided talk through a famous game, complete with plenty of audience participation and interaction. This year the emphasis will be on thinking & reasoning skills to navigate through any position.

Swiftly followed by Chris ‘Sydney‘ Skulte, on July 29th with a session likely to focus on the sexy topics of endgames, and using initiative to pressure your opponent.

Last and by no means least, will be our Great Dane, Carsten Pedersen, on 26th August, majoring on another lecture about the history of our beautiful game, with added game analysis.

Save the dates & don’t miss out!!

The Epsom Challenge – 15th July / 9th August

As one of a handful of progressive and forward-looking clubs in London, us Hammers are always on the lookout for other clubs doing things the right way too.

In the case of Epsom chess club, we spotted that a handful of chess enthusiasts have recently resurrected this once great club, and have made great strides in bringing the beautiful game to the charming folks of South London.

The learned committee of the re-founded and resurgent Epsom Chess Club!

Their website is worth a read – after a 50 year hiatus, the club was re-founded in 2018 and is set to go from strength to strength, continuing the proud name of a club originally founded in 1913! . What better way to support their efforts than face off in a double-header and show them who’s boss?!?

This will be a unique opportunity to make new friends and play some chess in a pub (in Epsom) and a brewery (Sambrooks). A bit like El Chessico, only Epsom might actually give us a decent game.

The away leg is on Monday 15th July at the Rising Sun Pub, in Epsom (http://risingsunepsom.co.uk/) – and note that there is no SL fixture the following day.

The return leg will be on Friday 9th August in the brewing room at Sambrooks brewery, Battersea.

If you’d like to take part in a great bit of chess, beer and friendship, and lend a hand to another club doing things the right way, please contact John by July 5th: john.white49@ntlworld.com

Introducing… The Sledgehammer

Hammers,

We are pleased to announce the start of our brand new, Hammersmith Chess Club, season-long, internal long-play competition…. the Sledgehammer Tournament!

This is a quick-start guide for you to understand how it works, how to register, and start playing!

Send an email to sledgehammer@clubmember.org to register.
We will send you an updated contact list of the other participants on a regular basis (please keep it confidential… GDPR and all that).
Contact any of the other participants on the list, and book a game with them. You are free to select any other participant, and play them in a standard ECF rated game no more than once per season (from June 2019 to end of May 2020).
You can play anywhere, anytime, as you convene with your opponent at the club on a Monday evening, or elsewhere.
Games need to be Over the Board (OTB) and played in one session.
The default time is 60 minutes + 30 seconds increment, but players can agree longer time controls if they both want to.
This is a handicap-based tournament, so players beating stronger players will get plenty of points counting towards the cup.
Send the results and PGN file not more than one week after the game was played to sledgehammer@clubmember.org
We will send updated results and standings on a regular basis, and keep updated results on the club website.
Game results will be sent to ECF for grading by the end of the following month.

The full details and rules of the tournament can be found here: Tournament Description

We’re eager to kick-off this new tournament ASAP, with the aim to provide plenty of standard chess playing graded game opportunities within the club, and increase interaction amongst our members!

Note that by registering for this tournament you agree for us to share your contact information with the other participants.

Thanks & good luck!!

Summer at Planet Hammer!

Summer is finally here! At Hammer this means two things – The Summer Chess League and the Hammersmith Summer Programme.

Summer Chess League

The Summer Chess League is a joint venture between us and Battersea Chess Club. It’s now into its third year, and promises to be bigger and better than ever before!

It will consist of nine match weeks (two on, one off) on Tuesdays played at Battersea Labour Club (5 minutes from Clapham Junction), starting on June 11th. The event is always really fun, with loads of players, team logos, cheap beer and a fantastic venue!

This year a whopping 30 teams are taking part! Hammersmith will be entering five of them, and all members have been put into squads and should have been contacted by captains. If you haven’t yet heard anything, please let us know.

Hammersmith Summer Programme

If the SCL isn’t enough chess for you, we’ll be upstairs at The Albion every Monday night. Most evenings will be dedicated to casual chess, but there’ll be a few fun tournaments to take part in.

Team Rapidplay (24th June) – attendees will be split into four teams and play one rapidplay game against each of the others. Prizes to the winning team!
Handicap Blitz (2nd Sept) – a straight up Blitz tourney played out in traditional Hammer handicap style
Bughouse (5th August) – This chess variant is great fun and hugely popular. Players will be paired according to grade and fight it out for the grand prize

Lou and Ben – last year’s Bughouse champions

And of course we haven’t forgotten the highlight of the Hammer Summer Programme – this year’s Kensington pub crawl will incorporate even more pubs, with plenty of chess along the way. Save the date – 15th July!

Full details of all events below:

Hammer and the Holy Grail pt. II

29.05.19 – London League Division 2: Hammersmith vs. Dulwich

Act 2

Had Hammer found the secret code? And if so, would it help or hinder them? Or had Met’s omertà code held firm? Were many individuals really as ignorant as they professed? Most importantly, does the reader care?

To add further intrigue, the Dulwich captain emailed late on Wednesday afternoon that they would, regrettably, have to default two boards. Had the opposition been nobbled? The PM was consulted on this once in a generation issue, but Mrs. May found herself unable to offer a coherent argument either way.

So to arms: With all eight Hammers finally assembled, time to get down to business. Rauno, farcically on board 8 (he’s a 2200 player) demolished his opponent within the hour. His grateful captain, perhaps unable to withstand the tension of spectating, quickly ushered Rauno, a diehard Gooner, over to a local hostelry to watch the Europa final.

Word came through that wins for Chris, then for Bajrush, two of our greatest heroes this season, had brought the score to 5-0. How many points did we need without being accused of chavish overkill?

Your Chelsea supporting scribe decided it would be more stressful watching the second half than the chess, and sloped back to Citadines. Alas, to be met by a despairing Marios who had just lost a well played game to a one move cheapo. Your captain tried to recall the charm and tact of our previous capo, Captain Clueless, in offering words of consolation. 5-1

Not to worry, soon Carsten appeared, anxious for some beer after a slashing victory. 6-1

What could go wrong with our top 3 men still in action? How many points did we need again? Curse that hapless El Loco and his love of John Le Carre novels.

To be frank, Dulwich’s top boards are strong and were fighting for blood and honour. Soon Ryszard, our leader, staggered out bowed and bloodied, claiming that up to a point he was playing like Alpha Zero. But alas, at the critical moment, the power short circuited. 6-2

The T-Bone Thomas, our relentless iron man all season, fell into a hopeless position on board 2, his opponent attacking like Mischa Tal reborn. 6-3 imminent.

On 3, Tony had been nursing a sizeable advantage through the middle game, but his opponent refused to give an inch. Suddenly, in a moment of, who knows, was it divine inspiration, or a calm assessment of the multifarious tie break possibilities, he offered a draw. Now Tony is not a man who likes to draw. At once his opponent shook hands and Thomas, on seeing this, resigned.

The match was over 6.5-3.5. Why did captain El Loco suddenly look like the proverbial Scotsman who had lost a pound and found a fiver? Were Metropolitan, Wanstead and the LL Committee still not available for comment? So many questions – and not all of them rhetorical.

Act 3

To the pub. Much mirth and jovial banter. Then the result, as if by magic, appeared on the LL website: Metropolitan 5.5-3.5 Wanstead & Woodford (+1 adjourned).

More beer. And mutual congratulations with Lewisham captain Andy, whose team were also promoted as D4 champions that evening. Three cheers for the inventor of board count, even though he cost us the Thames Valley Cup Final last year!

Allegedly a group of Hammer players were last seen heading off into the night, set to relieve their captain of his last shekels at the poker table. I couldn’t possibly comment. Chess players don’t do that sort of thing do they?

So, the Holy Grail is found. Hammer complete back-to-back promotions and reach London League Division 1 after 57 years trying.

I must heartily congratulate, and of course thank, the 24 players who took part in the campaign. Spartan Hammers one and all, I salute you.

Of course every point is equally valuable, but a special shout out to those absolute diehards: Bajrush, Thomas, Carsten, Sylvain, Paul, Marios and last but not least, our MVP, Mr. Board 1 hat-trick man himself, Chris.

Hearty thanks also to the wider Hammersmith membership and committee for your encouragement, support and advice throughout. And a big shout out to former Captain John, who started this process back in Division 4, and was on hand as “super-sub” on Wednesday. A triumph for team camaraderie and fighting spirit.

First Division, prepare yourself for the Hammer.

El Loco, at last, finally silent.

Hammer and the Holy Grail pt. I

29.05.19 – London League Division 2: Hammersmith vs. Dulwich

Taking the liberty of mis-quoting a verse from one of my favourite old hippy songs:

“Following our fortune now the holy grail is found,
And the holy bread of div one it is given all around,
Farewell sorrow, praise god the open door,
We ain’t got no home in the Division two world no more”

(Ducks on a Pond. The Incredible String Band, from the legendary 1968 album “Wee Tam”.)

Certainly, there has been more than a zany hint of Monty Python, or perhaps more aptly, of the Pickwick Club at times in following Hammers LL Division 2 adventures this season.

Whether your scribe is more Alfred Jingle than Mr. Pickwick I leave for the reader to judge, as in characteristic vein we approached the final round of matches tied for the second promotion spot with the venerable Metropolitan Chess Club, that quintessentially “establishment” LL Club, about as different in every way you could imagine from the brash upstarts of Lytton Hall.

With 9 match points each, 73 game points apiece (following the adjournment heroics of Marios and Bajrush in our rout of Cavendish) and a tied individual match, we all feverishly consulted the obscure LL rulebook to discover that Board Count was the final tiebreak method. The finest mathematical and legal minds of the Hammertime WhatsApp group then set to work deciphering what this arcane system actually entails.

Apparently it favoured the good guys.

Continuing our Dickensian theme – it was the best of club chess, it was the worst of club chess, as now began the week of intrigue that future chess historians will debate and analyse ad infinitum.

What had happened to the result of Metropolitan v Wanstead? The LL website and management committee maintained a frosty silence. Wanstead were not available for comment. Had Metropolitan devised a plan so cunning that you could stick a tail on it and call it a weasel? Secret negotiations spanning five continents, the corridors of Whitehall and even the watering holes of the city, could not prise out the result for love nor money. Twitter banter, classic memes and all sorts of fake news did the rounds.

The unanswered, half-remarkable question, as El Loco and his troops assembled last Wednesday at Citadines at 6:50 prompt: Had the chess Maginot Line held, or did Hammer manage to carve a metaphorical route through the Low Counties and establish what score they needed against Dulwich to secure a historic promotion?

Pt. II to follow with the answers…

A Night with the King

Clueless must first of all offer a fulsome apology for the tardiness in the late publishing of this article – simply work, family and chess commitments proved insurmountable barriers.

At the tale-end of April, Hammer members enjoyed the wit and wisdom of a chess talk from GM Danny King – author, media star, damn good chess player and all-round top bloke.

About 25 Hammers and guests enjoyed a superb evening and to those of you who could not attend, you missed a helluva night of chess and Albion activity.

The evening divided into halves with the lecture at the Anvil and then the nefarious activities and their consequences of a night at the Albion.

This was a night to be remembered!

The theme of the lecture was stalemate – as GM Danny King espoused the concept as a beautiful and legitimate part of our fabulous game – possibly the chess equivalent of the forlorn hope – other parties such as GM Nigel Short, FIDE vice-president, see it is a concept that should be discarded in the modern game.

I must confess, I was probably before this lecture totally guilty of siding with GM Nigel on this matter. How galling it is to outplay your opponent then fall into a stalemate. A certain full-point reduced to a half – the stuff of real chess nightmares. However, changing one’s mind after listening to logical argument, is a sign of a flexible and intelligent person – politicians please take note.

After seeing the various examples that GM DK used in the opening part of his lecture, I realised that stalemate is not only a legitimate tactic, but also a sting in the tail that Caissa uses to keep all chess players on their toes. Some of the examples, ranging from simple king and pawn scenarios to GM Mark Taimanov’s amazing study-like stalemate, were simply stunning. Definitely challenging and food for thought.

We were then split into foursomes and had to work our way through four stalemate puzzles of increasing complexity – this was a real challenge. The main lessons was that sometimes looking for a draw is just as challenging as searching for that elusive win.

The final challenge was an over-the-board stalemate that a team mate of GM DK found in a match in the Swiss league – this was an amazing solution and I give you the challenge below in Puzzle 5.

The star of the evening was definitely young Jack who garnered a free chess book from GM DK for his contribution – a definite Hammer star of the future.

There then followed a short question and answer session with an emphasis on the recent WCC match in London and the form of Magnus Carlsen since that match.

If you are up to date in your chess news you will know that the form of our World Champion in 2019 has been simply sensational – GM DK reckoned it was down to the phenomenal work he had put in, in preparation for the challenge of Fabiano Caruana. Maybe ELO 2900 will be breached.

GM DK received a rapturous round of applause from a very appreciative audience.

Part one was finished, and the second part of the evening began.

The persuasive powers of the Hammer crew, and the call of the Albion beer proved too much of a temptation for DK and he joined us for a very late night session at our favourite watering hole.

Now what happens in the Albion stays in the Albion – except I will just say the rest of the night involved beer, chess, bump-starting attempts on a car, and finally the Uber rescue service!!!

However, what we did learn is that DK is a legend, and is now a Hammer legend, and I think he has an urge to return to OTB chess despite his work commitments – watch this space!!

John.

Puzzle 1: White to move and save the game:

Puzzle 2: White to move and save the game:

Puzzle 3: White to move and save the game:

Puzzle 4: White to move and save the game:

Puzzle 5: White to move and save the game:

June 3rd – AGM & Final Blitz Night of the Season!

Hammers – your attention please!

Monday 3rd June sees our Annual General Meeting, where we will discuss all things club-related, as well as vote on Officers and a number of proposals from the Committee.

Full details of all that can be found here, and the minutes from last year’s AGM are available on the noticeboard at Lytton Hall every club night for the next few weeks.

Following the formalities, we’ll conclude with the final round of our internal Blitz tourney – the culmination of a season-long competition!

The top 10 currently stands as follows – testament to the old adage “you gotta be in it, to win it”:

Will anybody be able to stop Bajrush re-claiming his crown in 2019, and who will win the best performance? Many questions still to be decided….

The concluding round commences immediately after the Meeting, around 8.30pm. As always, refreshments will be provided!

See you there!!

Special Offer – DGT Centaur Chess Computer!

Here at Hammer, we’ve been sponsored by London’s premier supplier of chess equipment – Chess & Bridge shop – since 2016. As part of our successful relationship, they also provide Hammers with details of special offers from time-to-time, and this one is particularly brilliant….

The New DGT Centaur Chess Computer – Pre-Order and Save £26!

An adaptive, intelligent Chess Computer

The beautifully designed chess board has touch sensors that effortlessly register your moves.

It has a rechargeable battery, e-Paper display, intuitive settings in many languages and weighted plastic chess pieces. The computer moves are indicated by unique circular LED lights.

Its greatest feature is the adaptive intelligent chess program that automatically adjusts itself to your playing strength so that you will always have a suitable playing partner.

Stop using computer screens, tablets or telephones, and start playing chess with Centaur on a real board, with real chess pieces! Simply turn it on and make your move! Centaur is always there to challenge you, to help develop your game and to keep you sharp!

Other chess computers are made to play at the highest strength. They can be impossible to beat. At lower levels they play unnatural and un-human moves. They are simply no fun to play against.

Centaur was made to give everyone a good game. Whether you are a beginner or a strong player, whether you are a home player or a club player, Centaur will adjust to you as soon as you make your first move. Its smart algorithm will automatically adjust to your level and always gives you a challenging game that is both educative and great fun! It has a hint system and the option to set up any position.

Centaur is not compatible to connect to your computer or online chess portals. That is not necessary at all, use the Centaur to play, to learn, to train, to analyse and to improve your skill level. Above all, use it to have fun!

What is new?

Adapts to your strength
Sensor board
LED lights indicate the moves
Rechargeable internal battery
Weighted chess pieces
e-Paper display

Special Pre-Order price, only £323 (RRP £349) – Order Here

One of the Best

2019 marks another successful year at Hammersmith, as we celebrate a first Division 1 League title in the Thames Valley, and a likely couple of promotions in other leagues to follow.

It also marks the 54th Season with the Club for our esteemed Club Secretary, Mike Mackenzie.

Many of you will know Mike as the friendly face who welcomed you to the club on your first visit, or the chap who opens/closes the club on many a Monday evening, or perhaps you played for him when he was a team captain.

He’s been on the Club Committee for many years now, but has decided that this year will be his last on the Committee, and he’ll be stepping down from his role as Secretary.

Whilst we will be losing Mike’s experience on the Committee, we’re delighted to say that Mike will continue to be a member of the club, and he isn’t hanging his chess boots up just yet!

To mark the occasion, and offer our thanks to Mike for his countless years of service to the club through thick & thin, we had a whip round and were able to present Mike and his wife Merceda, with a round-trip to the 2020 Bunratty International Chess Festival.

For the uninitiated, Bunratty is Ireland’s premier chess competition, attracting a huge range of players from all over the world. It’s a prestigious event, and a huge social occasion. We are delighted to be able to offer Mike such a fitting gift to mark his semi-retirement from Committee life!

After being presented with the gift last week, in his true modest fashion, Mike would like us to share the following words of thanks:

“My wife Merceda & I wish to thank all members of the Hammersmith Chess Club for their kindness & generosity in presenting us with such a wonderful gift.

We cannot express in words how thrilled we are to be going to Bunratty Castle for a chess tournament and then on to Cork for a visit with the family.

Thanks again to one & all.

Yours Sincerely,
Mike & Merceda Mackenzie”

On behalf of all Members past & present, Mike – thanks for everything over the years, enjoy your well-earned trip, and we’ll see you over the board soon!

The Champions!

Yes, my fellow Hammerites, your eyes do not deceive you – Hammer has won its first Division 1 title in its 57th year. It has been a long wait, but boy is it worth it!

Cue “We are the Champions” by Queen, copious amounts of fizz and congratulations all round!

Under the superb captaincy of Captain Wily (aka. Bajrush), Hammer sewed up the Thames Valley Division 1 Championship on a glorious night last month, befittingly at the Anvil.

In a dramatic match against Ealing, Hammersmith ran out 5.5-2.5 winners to convincingly win the title. Just take a look at the final table – it is simply fantastic:

A score of nearly 88% in match points – 10 wins, 1 draw, and a solitary defeat – this was a season of domination by the Hammers in a tough division. This is a definite new high for our club.

The match card looked like this:

In honour of this great achievement, here are some of the games from that exciting night.

Board One – Ryszard playing like only Ryszard can:

Board Two – Thomas the “T-Bone” in awesome form:

Board Eight – Jim tearing up the Smith-Morra:

Chris scored the vital point to secure the victory and was followed by Tony Niccoli (“The Surgeon“) winning a long game – Hammer at 5.5-0.5 – the losses for Wily and the Great Dane did not figure.

I have to say that Carsten deserved a lot more than a cruel loss in time trouble. Bajrush had one of those nights we all want to forget about at the board.

However, those defeats did not dampen the joy of victory and a huge squad effort – Captain Wily had two bottles to share out and boy did they not last! We then retired to the Albion to continue the celebrations well into the night.

Hammer has come of age!!!