Hammersmith Chess Club

Six years ago, our planned visit to Lübeck Chess Club was one of the many casualties of Covid. It was a huge disappointment at the time but some ideas are simply too good to die.

We are delighted to announce that the Lübeck Heist is officially back on.

Our German friends have warmly invited us to visit on the weekend of Friday 26 June to Sunday 28 June 2026 and we intend to make it a Hammer weekend to remember.

The Hammersmith summer raids are the stuff of club legend: great chess, great company, and a proper sense of occasion. If you’ve never been on one, this is your moment.

Provisional itinerary

• Friday evening
  Arrival, welcome drinks, and a friendly all-play-all blitz tournament
• Saturday
  A long-play match for the Beck–Hamm Trophy, followed by a joint dinner with our Lübeck hosts
  (and, for those with stamina, a late-night visit to a sports bar to follow the World Cup)
• Sunday
  A relaxed morning enjoying the beautiful city of Lübeck before travelling home

Lübeck is a stunning Hanseatic city in northern Germany, famous for its brick Gothic architecture and rich history.

Just as importantly, it is home to a large, thriving chess club with an excellent junior section which means we are hoping to field both an adult team and a junior team.  They can accommodate up to 50 Hammers across the weekend so plenty of room for a strong showing.

Travel & logistics

• Fly to Hamburg and take the short high-speed train to Lübeck
  or
• Fly directly to Lübeck Airport (Ryanair)

Accommodation (hotel or Airbnb) will be coordinated centrally, but please book your own flights.

How to sign up (deadline 31 March)

If you would like to be part of the Lübeck Heist, please email jdrw9591@gmail.com

Let John know:

• whether you are travelling solo, with a partner, or with children
• and whether you are interested in playing or accompanying

One final thing…

The challenge has been made.  The Beck–Hamm Trophy is on the line.

Hammer needs you.

John White

We are delighted to share some wonderful news from further afield.

Our club captain Gaston Franco has been awarded the title of National Master (Maestro Nacional) by the Argentine Chess Federation.

It is a thoroughly well-deserved recognition of Gaston’s strength, consistency and long-standing contribution to the game — and it will come as no surprise to anyone who has had the pleasure of playing him or being part of one of his teams.

Gaston is at the heart of Hammersmith Chess Club: a calm presence, a generous teammate, and a captain who always puts the club first.

From everyone at Hammersmith, congratulations Gaston!

Hammers, we’re in for something special.

We’re delighted to announce that Jonathan Mestel will be our guest speaker at the club on Monday 2nd March at 7.15pm.

Not only is he one of the great figures of English chess, he is also Professor of Applied Mathematics at Imperial College.  Expect insight, stories, and probably a few mind-bending ideas along the way.

Part of England’s Chess “New Wave”

Mestel was a key figure in the surge of English chess strength that followed the 1972 World Championship match between Fischer and Spassky. In the years that followed, England rose to become one of the strongest chess nations in the world, powered by talents such as Tony Miles, Jonathan Speelman, John Nunn, Nigel Short, and of course, Jonathan Mestel himself.

He was right in the thick of that golden era.

A Few Highlights (and there are many…)

Jonathan’s list of achievements is long and varied. Here are just a few standouts:

• Three-time British Chess Champion – including his extraordinary 1976 victory in Portsmouth, where he won his first nine games
• Olympiad Gold Medal for best board performance in 1984
• Two team silver medals and one bronze representing England at Chess Olympiads
• Awarded the Grandmaster title in 1982
• World Chess Solving Champion (1997) — a reminder that his chess strength goes far beyond over-the-board play

And that’s only scratching the surface. He’s also a highly accomplished bridge player, which tells you something about the breadth of his strategic mind.

A Special Evening at the MSC

This promises to be an informative, entertaining, and genuinely memorable night. Whether you’re a seasoned competitor, a casual player, or just chess-curious, this is a rare chance to hear from true English chess royalty.

📍 Venue: London MindSports Centre

🗓 Date: Monday 2nd March

⏰ Time: 7.15pm start

Make sure you’re there — evenings like this don’t come around often.

John White

Events Officer

With seven wins from seven matches, Hammersmith has wrapped up the Central London League Division 4 title in emphatic style. Sitting top by a wide margin with three games still to play, the team can no longer be caught — promotion secured, and the club’s first silverware of the season in the bag.

Last night’s 3½–½ victory away to Hackney in Pimlico featured Andrew Cuff, Mark Croasdale, Jake Stones and Dave Lambert, who delivered another commanding team performance to keep the perfect record intact.

It was a particularly sweet moment for Andrew, who captained last season’s side in this division and missed out on promotion by the narrowest of margins. Last night he made absolutely sure there would be no repeat drama.

Staying in Pimlico, attention now turns to our First Team, captained by Tom Townsend, who currently top Division 2 and are mounting a promotion push of their own…

Captain’s note:
“I’m incredibly proud of what the team has achieved this season — seven wins out of seven is a fantastic effort. If you’re new to the club (or new to playing in the Central London League in Pimlico) and would like to be part of the squad for our last three matches, email me at davidsteyn@icloud.com.”

Hammersmith Chess Club is delighted to host an Open Blitz Tournament on Thursday 5 February, in collaboration with Chess.com, who are generously providing a substantial prize fund, including signed memorabilia.

With 100 places available and only £10 to enter (Hammersmith members free), we’re expecting a popular and competitive tournament, run by London’s largest chess club but open to all. Sign up soon to secure your spot: entry form

We particularly encourage girls and women to join us, with a Best Woman prize in each section.

We look forward to welcoming you to Hammersmith for a fun evening of blitz chess!

Event Details

• When: Thursday 5 February, 7:00pm
• Where: London MindSports Centre, 21 Dalling Road, London W6 0JD
• Format: 9 rounds, 3+2 blitz
• Rating: ECF Blitz Rated
• Entry Fee: £10 (free for Hammersmith Chess Club members)

Prize Fund

Total prizes include:

• £500 Chessable vouchers
• 10 Chess.com merchandise packages
• 1 wooden chessboard signed by Magnus Carlsen
• 1 additional signed item (e.g. poster)

Prizes by Category

Open

• 1st: £125 Chessable Voucher + Merchandise Package
• 2nd: £75 Chessable Voucher + Merchandise Package
• 3rd: £25 Chessable Voucher + Merchandise Package
• Best Woman: £25 Chessable Voucher + Merchandise Package

Under 1850

• 1st: £75 Chessable Voucher + Merchandise Package
• 2nd: £50 Chessable Voucher + Merchandise Package
• Best Woman: £25 Chessable Voucher + Merchandise Package

Under 1400

• 1st: £50 Chessable Voucher + Merchandise Package
• 2nd: £25 Chessable Voucher
• Best Woman: £25 Chessable Voucher

Random Giveaways

(Selected via random draw based on final standings)

• Giveaway #1: Wooden board signed by Magnus Carlsen
• Giveaway #2: Signed item

Important Notes

• Rating categories are determined by the highest of a player’s ECF Blitz, ECF Rapid, FIDE Blitz or FIDE Rapid rating
• Players without a stable rating are ineligible for rating-restricted prizes
• Apart from random giveaways, no player may win more than one prize
• Ties will be decided using Buchholz tiebreak

How to Enter

Fill in this form to enter.

If you are not a Hammersmith member, please transfer the £10 entry fee to the bank details below. (You can join Hammersmith Chess Club here.)

Places are limited. Entry deadline: midnight, Sunday 1 February.

Your place will be confirmed by email upon receipt of payment.

Bank Details

• Name: Hammersmith Chess Club
• Sort Code: 40-03-21
• Account Number: 91245120
• Reference: Blitz Open – Your Name

Contact / MORE INFO

For queries, please email Adam at:

📧 adam1234321@gmail.com

We’re delighted to share that Hammersmith Chess Club was featured on the Perpetual Chess Podcast. In this episode, Club Captain Gastón Franco talks about how the club grew from fewer than 20 members into one of the most active and welcoming clubs in London.

Some highlights include:

• • How the club rebuilt membership and culture
  • Welcoming new players and community-building
  • Development of junior and women’s programmes
  • Volunteering and running a modern club

Listen to the podcast on Spotify or watch the video on YouTube, both included below:

A new year, and the chess season bursts back into life on Monday 5 January.

We’ve got 21 club matches lined up this month, with opportunities for players of every strength.

Check out the new Calendar tab, then use the new Club Matches tab to get in touch with a team captain if you’d like to be involved.

The new Club Nights tab has all the details of the Junior Hour and the Women & Girls Hour, both of  which return on Monday 12 January.

Adam’s eight-week Beginners & Improvers Course begins on Thursday 15 January, perfect if you’re starting out or getting back into the game.  To join, simply contact Adam directly.

Lastly, don’t forget our ECF-rated Rapid (10+5) tournament on Monday.

Happy New Year

David

 

:

The Tools We Use, And How They Shape Our Chess

January is the month when chess players make big promises.

More study.  Better openings.  Fewer blunders.  No more late-night bullet (well… maybe).

The problem isn’t enthusiasm.  The tricky part is working out what to actually use. There are now so many platforms, courses, coaches and “systems” that it’s easy to spend more time signing up for things than playing real chess.

So to start the new year, we thought we’d look at two simple questions:

1️⃣ Where do we play and study online?

2️⃣ How do we actually try to improve?

Not a review. Not a ranking. Just a practical look at four big names, and what each of them seems to encourage.

Part 1: Platforms — where we all end up playing

Almost all of us use one of these.  They dominate the online chess world, but they feel very different.

Lichess

Free, open-source, donation-funded, and wonderfully uncluttered.

You log in, you play, you analyse. No ads. No pop-ups. No pressure to buy anything. It feels like sitting down at a chessboard and getting on with it.

Lichess tends to encourage:

• slower thinking
• more analysis
• more self-reliance

Brilliant if you like simple tools and doing things your own way.

Chess.com

Busy, lively, polished. And absolutely everywhere.

Videos, puzzles, bots, drills, lessons, events, streamers… there’s always something happening, and it’s easy to get swept along.

Chess.com tends to encourage:

• lots of games
• dipping into lessons and puzzles
• staying engaged and entertained

Fantastic if you like structure, features, and a sense of community.

Neither is “right”. Neither is “wrong”. They just nudge you in slightly different directions.

And plenty of players happily use both.

Part 2: Coaching — how we try to get better

Once you’ve chosen where to play, the next question arrives:

How do I actually improve?

Here, two platforms often come up, and they take very different approaches.

Chessable

Courses, courses, courses.

Openings, endgames, ideas, theory — all built around spaced repetition. Learn something, repeat it, reinforce it, remember it.

At its best:

• clear structure
• great for openings
• satisfying sense of progress

The risk? Collecting more material than you ever quite finish.

ChessMood

Feels closer to having a coach.

Less “memorise this line”. More “here’s how to think in this position”. There’s a big focus on decision-making, typical ideas, and staying calm at important moments.

At its best:

• builds confidence
• improves practical play
• helps turn study into results

The trade-off? It’s less about ticking boxes and more about trusting the process.

Again,  neither is “the answer”. Different personalities will gravitate different ways.

But a small thought to start the year as we decide our Resolutions.

Most of us don’t need fifteen more chess apps.  We just need to be slightly more disciplined with the ones we already use.

If one of these platforms helps you enjoy chess more, think more clearly, or feel a little less lost at the board, then it’s doing its job.

And that feels like a perfectly good way to begin the year.  To everyone at Hammersmith Chess Club a Happy New Year, and see you soon in 2026.

…it’s time for the winter break.

The club will be closed from 25 December to 1 January inclusive.

As the year draws to a close, we’d like to thank everyone who has been part of Hammersmith Chess Club in 2025 — whether you played your first game, your fiftieth match, captained a team, coached a junior, or simply pulled up a chair and enjoyed the atmosphere.

We wish all our members a peaceful festive season, a chance to recharge, and plenty to look forward to in the year ahead.

Warmest wishes,

Hammersmith Chess Club