Month: October 2018

As our first full month of the 2018-19 season draws to a close, we’ve re-capped all our October results and activities for you to review.

It’s been an amazing start so far ,with 8 Wins, 1 Draw, and 3 Losses, plus our Hammer Derby in London Division 4. Enjoy!

Match Results

• 1st October – London Div 4: Hammer 3 vs. Hammer 2 (2-6)
• 2nd October – London Div 5: GLCC vs. Hammer (3.5-0.5, LOSS)
• 9th October – London Div 6: GLCC vs. Hammer (2-2, DRAW)
• 10th October – London Div 4: Hammer 2 vs. Lewisham (3.5-4.5, LOSS)
• 10th October – London Div 5: Smartacus vs. Hammer (1.5-2.5, WIN)
• 12th October – London Div 4: Morley College vs. Hammer (2-6, WIN)
• 15th October – Thames Valley Div 1: Hammer vs. Ealing (5-3, WIN)
• 18th October – Thames Valley Div 1: Wimbledon vs. Hammer (3.5-4.5, WIN)
• 24th October – London Div 2: East Ham vs. Hammer (2.5-7.5, WIN)
• 24th October – London Div 5: Lewisham vs. Hammer (1.5-2.5, WIN)
• 24th October – London Div 6: BBCA vs. Hammer (3.5-0.5, LOSS)
• 25th October – Thames Valley Div 1: Richmond A vs. Hammer (2.5-5.5, WIN)
• 29th October – Middlesex Div 3: Hammer 3 vs. West London (4.5-3.5, WIN – writeup below)

We also:

• Appointed our first ever Diversity Officer, Rubinder Gill, who will be working to help make Hammersmith Chess Club a better place to play chess for everyone
• Arranged a Club vs. Club game over 40 boards against Battersea – el Chessico II, 6th November – if you haven’t already signed up and would like to play, please contact John: john.white49@ntlworld.com
• Kicked off this Season’s RapidPlay Competition
• Arranged our Christmas Party – if you haven’t done so already, please confirm to John if you’d like to attend: john.white49@ntlworld.com

29.10.18 – Middlesex Division 3: Hammersmith vs. West London

Hammersmith won the toss and were White on Odds. The results fell as follows:

1. Nadhmi Auchi 0-1 Colum Jezierski
2. John White 0-1 Raghu Kamath
3. Brian Dodgeon 0-1 Russell Campbell
4. Simon Harding 0.5-0.5 James Pooler
5. Aditya Patel 1-0 Stuart Winter
6. Dipender Gill 1-0 Sam Brown
7. Hammersmith Default win
8. Hammersmith Default win

Nadhmi played a tough game on board 1 against a much more experienced player. Although this game was lost, it was definitely a useful learning experience for the rising star.

John also played a much higher rated player on board 2, and misplaced his knight in the middle game to block an escape square for his bishop. This left him a piece down, and although the fight went to the end, John eventually couldn’t hold on.

Brian’s opponent played slightly inaccurately in the Caro-Kann opening, which gave Brian enough confidence to try an enterprising knight sacrifice on move 15 for two pawns to give exciting attacking chances.

But although his opponent was never able to castle, he found a very accurate method of neutralising the threats and stabilising the centre, so Brian was heading for a late middle-game with just two pawns for the knight. In trying to find more ways to attack, he overlooked a trick involving a rook sacrifice for a pawn that would have led to a knight fork on king and queen. Brian avoided the trap, but the extra pawn he won meant it was a losing ending. Game is presented below:

Simon played out a gruelling draw after searching hard for a win. Aditya played an exciting game and came out a few pawns ahead in the middle to comfortably convert to a win in the endgame.

Dipender completely stuffed up the opening, but managed to just about hang in there to steal the victory in a fortuitous endgame:

So Hammersmith managed to sneak ahead, by some luck!! A 4.5-3.5 win!

Next game is 14th November – recruitment email to follow in the next few days.

Dipender.

Yes, the dread C-word has entered the Hammer lexicon and orbit. For once, I am not talking about chess, but the one associated with mulled wine, over-indulgence and presents.

In the immortal words of Noddy Holder…. it’s Christmas!!!

The restaurant and bar area has been booked – and all Hammer members are invited, as are partners (they do put up with a lot – this is a small thank-you!) – indeed all are invited, including Mums & Dads.

This is the social event of the year – it will be glamorous, it will be intelligent, and it will be FUN!

The venue is Wahaca restaurant on Charlotte Street in W1 – a central location with excellent transport connections (Goodge Street, Tottenham Court Road, and Oxford Circus stations are all very close) and great food. If you have never been, this is a chance to enjoy some great Mexican food and excellent drinks of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic varieties.

Check it out online:

https://www.wahaca.co.uk/locations/charlotte-st/

We’ve booked part of the cocktail bar for 40 people between 7-10pm – with options for finger food style buffet, although if you decide you’d prefer a sit-down meal we can arrange table bookings in the restaurant. The booking can also accommodate more people if needed!

The next steps are as follows – we need to know numbers, and food requests by November 25th at the latest.

For food there are three choices:

• Lighter bites (£12.50 pp)  – details below
• The Whole Shebang (£17.95 pp) – details below
• Sit Down Meal (on request – refer to menu on website)

Email John to confirm your attendance, and preferred food choice: john.white49@ntlworld.com

Hammer will be bossing Fitzrovia on the 6th December so be there and make it a brilliant night to kick-off the holiday period!

This is an official product of the John White Social club & I approve this message.

John.

Some things just shouldn’t happen. Like ketchup on a good steak, or denim on denim. Another of those things is Hammer turning on Hammer in an unholy match-up. Still, rules are rules and our two sides in London League Division 4 were pitted against each other to kickoff the 2018-19 season.

It was a well fought match with Dave’s higher graded Team Deux ultimately coming out on top against Ben’s Team Trois. As ever though, the tale of the tape is much more complex than just running through the match card presented here.

First to finish was the Clash of the Captains. Dave came out on top with some unusually attacking play in the old ‘castle long and throw your pawns forward’ Sicilian ruse. Ben’s h6 defence ‘felt’ wrong (and displeased Tony in the analysis) but the computer, thinking 10-moves deep thought it okay. Nevertheless, it was a tough one to defend and the position soon developed in Dave’s favour. 1-0 to Hammer 2

It was soon level as Robin quickly dispatched Abakar on board 7. A tough gig for Abakar making his debut, and inheriting a tighter than normal time control given he stepped in due to a no-show. There was no chance of Robin going easy on the youngster though. Tactics abound and the hammer soon fell. 1-1

Kostis continues his fine unbeaten run in his Hammer career with a somewhat fortunate win against Dan. Ruggers built up a strong positional edge flowing from a solid opening, and looked ready to take control, before a mistake allowed a Knight fork on Rook and Queen. Dan threw everything forward to try to score a retaliatory attack, but it wasn’t to be. 2-1 to Hammer 2

The Italian Job in board 1 was settled in Tomasso’s favour, as he managed to out-maneouvre Matteo in an extremely open tactical struggle. I didn’t see the game develop but the position looked like Tommaso had once again employed his trademark style of favouring fast development over nice-to-haves, like pawn structure! 3-1

Dipender overcame Shiraz in a good encounter on Board 6. Things looked fairly even until a capture with check turned the tide in Dr Gill’s favour. He now had a centralised Queen and the initiative to pick holes in Shiraz’s defence. 4-1

Andrew continues the fine form that won him last season’s Most Improved Player accolade, with a fine draw against Adam – graded some 23 points higher! I wonder what that gap will be next season! Andrew is improving quickly and surely has the potential to push on towards the 130-range within the next 12 months. A draw a fair result on the night. 4.5-1.5

The final two matches went to the wire. Simon and John played out a very entertaining draw, which pitted legal eagle against executive chair of the JWDC. A prestigious match-up if ever there were one. John has claimed to ratchet up the pressure but Simon parried well, reducing proceedings to a tense endgame with both Queens on the board. As is often the case in such situations, a perpetual check is never far away and discretion proved the better part of valour as a half-point apiece was secured. 5-2

The match of the evening was reserved for the last to finish. A titanic struggle between Blair and Nadhmi, played infant of the baying masses with only seconds remaining on the clock. We had a well-balanced, tense middle game with blocked pawn chains and myriad tactics ready to be unleashed if someone made a wrong turn. Nadhmi looked the more likely to progress, slowly building pressure on the Queen-side with doubled rooks and a useful looking knight.

Blair defended brilliantly and kept finding the right resource in order to keep Master Auchi at bay. With a couple of minutes on the clock, Blair broke free with an advanced pawn and looked to romp home before Nadhmi sacrificed his Bishop to carve out the defence and push for a crushing attack.

Great chess on both sides, but there had to be a winner and Blair coolly played through to take the win, seemingly ignorant of the ticking clock. I think I felt more pressure watching it!

6-2 and the match awarded in favour of Hammer 2.

A great evening’s chess, and thoroughly enjoyable being part of it. I’m sure both sides have much to look forward to over the course of the season.

But alas, time waits for no man and the same is true for Hammer. Both sides are in action again in short order:

• Hammer 2 face Lewisham tonight (Wednesday) 10th October
• Hammer 3 take on Morley College on Friday 12th October

Hot off the Press!

And a quick note on last night’s result at Greater London, where our London Division 6 HEDGER team took on stalwarts GLCC.

A keenly-contested match saw Dan Rugman on top board, stand-in Captain Andy on two, and youngsters Taymoor and Laith on three and four respectively.

With all boards deciding to go quick-play, the match was over by 8.30pm and I’m pleased to report that Hammer secured a creditable 2-2 draw against our hosts, who outgraded us across the shop.

Particular credit must be given to Taymoor, with a fast-paced romp home in little over an hour, followed soon after by Andy edging out his opponent. At 2-0 up (game presented below), Hammer looked in great shape and with an outside chance of forcing a win.

Alas, it wasn’t to be – despite level-pegging for much of their games, both Dan and Laith eventually succumbed to a combination of sharp tactics, and unfortunate errors. However, both played solid games and there will be much more to come from them this year.

Still, a good result for the team and much to be positive about for all four Hammers.