As the 2021-22 season just ended marking the return of OTB competition, Hammersmith Chess Club participated with 16 teams in different leagues across the London, Central London, Middlesex, and the Thames Valley competitions, with great success as 5 teams won their respective divisions, including two first teams crowned as Champions! We were delighted to see more than 100 members getting involved over the course of the season and we’re looking to field even more teams in the future as membership numbers grow.
Details of our teams and the respective captains as follows, with a brief summary of our results as well as our club captain’s pick for top players of the season:
The Champions & Division winners
London West 1 – Hammer 1: captained by Fedja Zulfic. The top table of the London Chess League system, which has been newly separated into East and West sections. Hammersmith took first place of Division One West with 9 wins and a single loss, making their way into the playoffs against the top clubs from the East section. A great win against Cavendish in the Semifinals meant we had our chance to face the powerful Wood Green for the title! Unfortunately we ended as runner ups but the match was very exciting!
Thames Valley 1 – Hammer A: captained by Bajrush Kelmendi. A competitive league based in South and West London, our first team caters for players with an ECF 2000+ in this 6-board competition. Hammersmith won with a large gap over second place, after a commanding and undefeated run with 9 wins and one draw. We also won the Cup to bring two titles home!
London East Minor – Hammer East Minor: captained by Jake Stones. Our smaller eastern team, offering more opportunities for our low-to-mid graded players to get games in this 4-board division played as a double round robin with 5 teams. Jake was one of our most active members this year and his team finished in 1st place with 5 wins, 2 draws and a loss.
Central London 3 – Hammer B: We entered two teams in this division based in Pimlico, with no difference in strength. CLL3 was a double round robin event with 7 teams and our B team (captained by Robin Sarfas) took clear first with 8 wins and 4 losses.
Middlesex 2 – Hammer 2: Hammer’s second team in the Middlesex setup, captained by Gastón Franco. Hammersmith and Ealing tied for first with 7 wins and 3 losses each, and having scored better game difference (thanks to a last round 6-0!) we took the first place on tiebreaks.
List of Teams and Captains, Stats & Details
Team Competition Division Captain End of Season Wins Draws Losses
Thames Valley 1 Thames Valley League First Bajrush Kelmendi Champions 9 1 0
London League 1 London League West One Fedja Zulfic Champions 9 0 1
Middlesex 1 Middlesex League First Alex Freeland Fifth (of Seven) 2 0 6
LL Seconds London League West Two Ben Rothwell Second (of Five) 4 1 3
LL Thirds London League West Two Ben Rothwell Fourth (of Five) 2 3 3
Middlesex 2 Middlesex League Second Gaston Franco First (of Seven) 7 0 3
LL Hodgson London League West Major John White Third (of Nine) 6 0 2
LL Central London League East Three Dave Lambert Third (of Six) 5 0 5
Central London A Central London League Third Nick Groves-Kirkby Fifth (of Seven) 4 1 7
Central London B Central London League Third Robin Sarfas First (of Seven) 8 0 4
Middlesex 3 Middlesex League Third Jonathan Hoong Fourth (of Seven) 5 3 4
Middlesex 4 Middlesex League Third Ken Kwabiah Seventh (of Seven) 1 3 8
LL East Minor London League East Minor Jake Stones First (of Five) 5 2 1
LL Hedger London League West Minor Nadim Osseiran Fourth (of Five) 3 1 4
LL West Minor London League West Minor Charlie Rigby Fifth (of Five) 2 2 4
Thames Valley X Thames Valley League X Jon Mather Fifth (of Five) 3 0 5
London West 2 – Hammer 2: captained by Ben Rothwell. Our second team in the London League. Aimed primarily at players rated between 1600 and 2100.
London West 2 – Hammer 3: captained by Ben Rothwell. Our third team in the London League, playing in the same division as our Seconds.
London West Major – Hammer Hodgson: captained by John White. The major division is the top 4-board division in the London League. We put out a fairly strong team and narrowly missed making it into the East vs West playoffs.
London West Minor – Hammer Hedger: captained by Nadim Osseiran. Our first team in the entry-level division. It’s a great opportunity for our lower-graded, casual, or new players to get a feel for the face-to-face game! It’s a friendly & accessible league always looking to field new players.
London West Minor – Hammer Minor: – Our second team in London Minor, captained by Charlie Rigby.
London East 3 – Hammer Central: captained by Dave Lambert. Our main team in the London East League. Aimed primarily at players living further east, or working in the square mile.
Thames Valley X – Hammer B: captained by Jon Mather. An entry level team in the Thames Valley League, catering to new and novice players.
Middlesex 1 – Hammer 1: The Middlesex League covers teams in West and North London, and we entered teams in each of the 3 divisions. Our top team was captained by Alex Freeland.
Middlesex 3 – Hammer 3: Our third team in Middlesex’s lowest division, captained by Jonathan Hoong.
Middlesex 3 – Hammer 4: Our fourth team in Middlesex’s lowest division, captained by Ken Kwabiah.
Central London 3 – Hammer A: Our first entry to this Zone 1 division, based in Pimlico. Our A team is captained by Nick Groves-Kirkby.
Top Players of the Season (By club captain Ben Rothwell)
- First team player of the season: Thomas Bonn. T-Bone as he is known is one of the strongest players at the club. Along with his impressive Blitz performances, he has been a key player for the First teams, with an astonishing 9/10 record for the Thames Valley first team and 6/6 for London West 1, with an overall season record of 18/24 (including challenge matches)
- Honourable mention: Gaston Franco. A new face at Hammersmith, along with captaining the Middlesex 2 team and leading them to first place (with a 6/7 personal performance for them), Gaston has played for all three first teams (collectively scoring 6.5/8), and has contributed to the club as a whole too. His end of season record is an extremely strong 15.5/20
- Non-first team player of the season: Andrew Cuff. Andrew has gained nearly a hundred rating points this season (1570 to 1654), and has been an impressive fixture in the non-“first” teams with a 17/24 record. He has been an essential player to a variety of different teams, including the winning CLL “B” and LL East Minor teams.
- Honourable mention number one: Liam Fleming, who has played more matches this season than any other player, with a 23/36 record. Future captains do need to beware picking him though, because with playing so much he becomes ineligible for the lower teams in the Middlesex and London League teams!
- Honourable mention number two: Jake Stones, who along with captaining the LL East Minor team, and with a 14.5/29 record (the second most matches played), has also been a key part of multiple teams, once again including the winning CLL “B” and LL East Minor teams.
- Junior player of the season: Cian Ward. With a record of 12/19, Cian has continued to develop impressively, going from a rating of 1570 in September 2021 to 1751 at present. He has also been our most active junior in league chess, and is definitely one to watch.
See our Roll of Honour for previous winners of the Player of the Season awards.
We bid farewall to club captain Ben Rothwell as personal matters will see him leaving London. He will be missed and we wish him great success in his future endeavors. His replacement in the role will be Robin Sarfas, as voted in our 2022 Annual General Meeting
We welcome any new players and will do our upmost to provide competitive chess throughout the season, along with the usual club events, tournaments and training evenings!
The only requirements are that you’re a paid-up member of the club – details here, and that you’re ECF-registered, details here. It’s a very simple process, please feel free to ping us with any questions you might have.
Further information on the leagues we play in can be found here:
London League
Thames Valley League
Middlesex League
Central London League
And there’s more….
Celtic Tigers – our sister club, the Celtic Tigers, play in the National Chess League (aka 4NCL) – the highest League System in the UK. Hammerite Chris Skulte manages the team. If you’re keen to play, please check out the details here and get in touch with Chris