Month: September 2021

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On Monday 4th October  we are organising a special Rockhammer evening:

• There will be Three rounds (7:15pm, 8:15pm, 9:15pm), or fewer if anyone wants to arrive late or leave early
• 25+10 time control
• Entrants must be ECF-registered
• Pairings done on the night
• All games will count towards your ECF rapid grading and also towards the Rockhammer internal tournament results and standings.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind the members about the internal tournaments our club offers. Besides the Blitz tournaments organised from time to time in the club evenings, we have three longer play handicap tournament cups organised all year long:

Sledgehammer Cup: Standard play (typically 60’+30’’)
Rockhammer Cup: Rapidplay (typically 30’+15’’)
Jackhammer 960: Fischer Random Chess Rapidplay (960 games are not ECF graded)

Those are very flexible tournaments where the players can agree a time and place of their choice, whether on club night or elsewhere and play games counting towards the tournament, both in OTB or Online formats.

Beside being ECF graded games (online games are graded separately), the internal tournament points are based on a handicap system, so everyone has a good chance to mark points in the tournament and finish at the top of the standings, the participation in those tournaments is rewarded.

Currently, we have great conditions to develop those internal tournaments, with the return of OTB chess, the move to our fantastic new location in the Mind Sports Centre and many new members joining the club, this is the perfect opportunity to participate in those cups.

You can play two games in each cup against every member of the club, one with White pieces and one with Black pieces. This makes potentially 6 official games of chess with each member of the club during the year, ECF graded (except 960 games). With 120 members in the club, you can possibly  play 720 official rated games  of chess within one season, flexibly whenever and wherever you agree to play! This is a lot of training! Besides, there is no better way to improve at chess than sitting with your opponent and going through the games when you finish, and finding out about the good and the bad moves you made.

To make the communication easier, and to find opponents easily for those tournaments, we have created a WhatsApp group dedicated to these tournaments where we publish the standings on a regular basis, and where members can call for opponents who would like to play. If you are interested, just ask Adam to add your number to the group chat. ( ‘Hammer Tournaments’ WhatsApp group).

Once you play your games, all you need to do is to post the result on a Google Forms link (given below) and we will register the game for the results and for ECF grading after checking that everything is in order.

A few resources:

• The Google Forms where all results should be posted
• The Tournament Rules
• If you have any questions, just ask on the dedicated WhatsApp ‘Hammer Tournaments’ group.

 

As definitely one of the older members of the Hammer crew, that label is simultaneously scary to me as well as a source of pride. Why, may you ask?

The former because it’s not the age thing for me – it is just the mileage. The latter because it tells me how far this club has come, and my generation will be able to hand it over in rude health to the next lot of younger Hammers. The transformation and rebirth of this club will have been complete (No Star Wars comparisons please).

 During my business life – there is one outside of chess – I was a member of a Rotary club in South-East London. The central theme of being a Rotarian is one of service – the thinking being that you use your business connections and time to help make things better in your community. We supported many initiatives throughout my membership- the local hospice, local hospitals, support groups for various medical afflictions and drugs education in primary schools. This was all done by using our time and business contacts.

I am asking you all to embrace this spirit and help your chess club – the immediate calls are for team captains for the coming season and help with Junior Hour.

If you want to be a team captain or want more information, please contact club captain Ben at rothwell.ben@googlemail.com.

For myself and on behalf of the force of nature that is Christof, we are looking for you all to volunteer for one hour of Junior Chess Club – once only between now and June 2022 – this means getting to the club at 6 pm and being prepared to take on the task of helping educate the next generation of chess players.

This is a noble purpose – you will be rewarded in two ways – personal development and secondly securing the future of our superb game and the club we all have built.

My target audience is you Hammers and the parents of our Juniors.

Email me asap on jdrw9591@gmail.com  if you want to get involved – we need you!

John “Lord Clueless” White

Yes, those noisy neighbours are back for more. The gauntlet has been thrown down and the challenge has been accepted.

The lovable frenemies of South Chelsea – Battersea (pronounced “Batt-taze- eeahhh”) are desperate to get their mittens on that fabled chess trophy….. El Chessico. 

For Hammer the trophy is important but the bragging rights are priceless.

They want a bit of the ‘ammer family silverware..despite having lost the last three matches…like all good masochists, they keep coming back for more.

It is time to take your Covid/Lockdown enhanced chess frustration and dish it out on a hapless bunch of South London wannabes.

The critical points are

• This year’s challenge will be a two-legged affair a la any European cup tie.
• With the away leg being played in Battersea on the 5th of October and the return at the Hammer home on Monday the 11th of October.
• The time control is 75 minutes with 15-second increments.
• The games will be rated so get your ecf membership sorted.
• Trying to get a minimum of 25 boards going – in non-Covid times it would be 40.

So, to all Hammers, I summon you to defend freedom, vanquish the frenemy, repel all borders, secure our birthright, take control and just get it done (copyright@ Priti Patel 2021).

Hammers, our honour is at stake – time to get real and get in the ring for a proper chess fight

Lord General Melchett Clueless

Hammer played host to chess royalty this past Monday – Grandmaster Nigel “Nosher” Short and FIDE vice-president was our guest speaker. The man who crushed Anatoly Karpov playing brilliant chess to challenge Gary Kasparov for the World Chess Championship. The first Briton to challenge for the world title in over a century. The 1993 match made headlines all over the world.
Stepping in at the last minute NS gave a brilliant talk centred around three games drawn from his first published chess book titled “Winning”.

As you know Lord Clueless is partial to extreme exaggeration, occasionally, but I can state without any hyperbole this was an amazing night. Nigel was a great presenter, with great stories and a very courteous manner. He also provided a fascinating insight into the thinking of a grandmaster and the role psychology can play in chess games. The other thing that was refreshing, he did not duck questions and was forthright in his opinions – something our politicians should take note of, and practice.

The lecture lasted about 90 minutes with Nigel taking questions all the way through and then enjoying a few glasses of wine afterwards. There was more drama to follow but more of that later.

The lecture was packed with so much but for me, these were some of the highlights

• Nigel reckons too much attention is paid to the opening and that the critical elements and how you can best improve your game are in the middle game and end game.
• The move Bh3 when it was already on its prime diagonal h1-a8 and the reasoning behind it -critical in the equation was his centralised knight on d4
• The adoption of the white pawn structure c4, d3 and e4 brought joy to our President’s heart – although I was really impressed with the early d4 that followed.
• His negotiation of multiple tactical counter threats whilst keeping control of the position
• The preference for the two bishops
• The use of psychology against an opponent who had lost the previous round and was content to play for a draw. Nigel destabilised the position deliberately which meant a fight would occur. A win followed demonstrating that courage and the occasional ?! move
• The switching of advantages – he was not wedded to one route to victory
• His reflections on calculation and his thought processes
• His comments on the use and application of engines and what writing the book taught him about this resource.
• Interspersed with anecdotes on playing chess in many (a trip to Iran was a definite highlight) and various tournaments – the evening was superb.
• A definite stand out moment in the 60 – year history of this great club.Normally I would sign out here but there was more drama to follow.
  Following a full debriefing with a few glasses of vino we exited the MSC gathering outside. Nigel was not to be seen- we presumed he had gone home -the building was secured and we departed into the night.

  This was the start of “LockinGate”- The biggest chess scandal since some dodgy yoghurt in Baguio City 1978 – Nigel was still in the building – he even tweeted about it. To misquote the classic Jam lyric – “He was down in the MSC at midnight” – yep when Hammer don’t what you to leave – as Chris Skulte commented – there are no lengths to which Hammer will go to raise the strength of our club – kidnapping is not as low as we go.

 

Thanks to Chris “Batman” Skulte who answered his calls for help, and he was released from his incarceration well after midnight. Nigel was fine and even gave his consent to the following series of tweets.

Many thanks again for the book signing and the lecture @nigelshortchess! Sorry we locked you in the MindSports center afterwards. Get Nigel's first ever book from @chessandbridge pic.twitter.com/YEt9uYD0kI

— Hammersmith Chess (@hammer_chess) September 14, 2021

In the end all’s well ends well ruled the night.

 

A big shout to Nigel and he is welcome at the Hammer anytime – next time we will not incarcerate him.

 

Lord Clueless

This week, Hammersmith Chess Club hosted not only Nigel Short, England’s most famous former chess prodigy, but also some of its own future prodigies when Junior Hour kicked off. The first evening was more of an introduction to the venue, to some of the participants, and to how we plan to conduct Junior Hour on a regular basis. It was encouraging to see how quickly and joyfully even the very young kids settled down to play each other, while others watched the demonstration games and advised on checkmating moves.

From next Monday onwards, we will start with a more structured program. The evenings begin with a few warm-up puzzles, going from easy to difficult, before proceeding to a 15-minute or so lecture on a specific topic, and these will provide a red thread throughout the season. After that, Juniors play games with each other, preferably against someone of a similar level. This is good preparation for a Junior tournament which we plan to do before the Christmas break.

We were glad to see so many young faces which tells us that we should initially focus our lectures on the beginners. Advanced players will not miss out though. They might refresh their knowledge in the first 20 minutes, and there will be the opportunity to play with one of the teachers present. And of course, everyone is invited to stay longer when adults come in after 7 pm.

WHERE: London MindSports Centre, 21-23 Dalling Road in Hammersmith, W6 0JD London. It is a 2-minutes walk from Ravenscourt Park Station (District Line).
The main playing hall is large, bright and well-ventilated. Adjacent is a small bar and kitchen, ideal for parents if they want to be there.

Who are the Hammer coaches? The club has a variety of coaches who will from time to time provide their lectures, each one with their specific background and focus, all experienced in teaching Juniors. The variety ensures that the game can be seen from different angles.
Point of contact and any question: Christof Brixel via email: cbrixel@yahoo.com.au

See you next Monday at 6pm!

Hi all,

Unfortunately, Grandmaster Simon Williams is sick and can’t make it on Monday. Though we have an exciting announcement that filling in for him will be English GM Nigel Short – who was one of the most successful chess players of the 1980s and 1990s and was still in the top 100 well into his 50s. The peak of his career came in 1993, when he challenged for the World Championship in a match against Garry Kasparov.

We will also be selling his new book in the night – Winning by Nigel Short, which has been short-listed by ECF for book of the year. He is happy to also sign any copies of his book too!!!

Grandmaster Nigel Short realised that every tournament win has a unique narrative and challenge. In this exceptional chess book, Short discusses eight of his foremost tournament wins, describing the drama with insightful game annotations and entertaining anecdotes. For those wanting to win in chess, this book is the place to start.

 

I joined Hammersmith Chess Club some seven years ago – at the time we met at the Lytton Community Hall in West Kensington. The first night I attended there were four people playing chess – all white, aged 70 plus and it was grim. I almost decided there and then this was not the club for me. Fortunately, Mike MacKenzie, the then secretary, persuaded me otherwise and following a popular uprising at the AGM later that year the club’s fortunes changed dramatically.

We grew quickly with a new modern website, utilisation of social media, charity events and a dynamic Committee committed to living up to the ideal of being more than a chess club.

We have won trophies, run amazing events and travelled to Amsterdam, Cork and Wroclaw to take on chess clubs. Hopefully next year Lubeck will be our destination.

Last year pre-Covid we moved to the YCBC premises at Goldhawk Rd and now we moving to a purpose-built facility – the Mindsports Centre in Hammersmith. This will be the best premises of any chess club in London and will set new standards in club facilities. The playing area is superb and there is a bar and restaurant for all, especially parents, to enjoy.

Next year is the 50th anniversary of the foundation of Hammersmith Chess Club -It has been a long journey, with many peaks and troughs, and I think our founders would be extremely proud of what the club has achieved in the past six years.

It is time for a new chapter, and I know Hammersmith are ready for the new challenges modern chess provides in a Covid aware world.

This coming Monday, September the 6th, is the first time we will come together at the Mindsports Centre. This will be from 7 pm and is very much an evening of getting used to the new venue and surroundings.

The 13th of September will be the first time our junior club will meet from 6pm and again this will be very much an introduction to the new premises. However, this will be followed by a very special event when we have an evening with GM Simon Williams – aka the Ginger GM.

Plans for the next 12 months are in formation and here is a brief overview of what we have planned.

• League chess – the London league, Thames Valley, the Middlesex and the Central London League
• A challenge match – home and away legs- with the Chess Centre in Bradford
• A full-bloodied OTB match with the ultimate frenemies for the El Chessico trophy – Battersea
• A clash with the Hackney Chess posse
• A charity event in Lytton Square – in May 2022 – I am happy to take suggestions from club members for the charity that will receive the funds. Previously Hammersmith MIND has been the recipient.
• A trip to Lubeck in June next year for a weekend of chess GM simul displays, a junior program with special events as well as loads more to celebrate 50 years of our club.

So, I hope to see you all this Monday coming for the most exciting chess year in the history of our club…. the new Anvil awaits

John White aka Lord Clueless
PR Officer