Ready to Level Up Your Game? Our Beginners & Improvers Course is back, led this season by our Club President Adam Cranston!
Starting Thursday 2nd October, this 8-week one hour long course is perfect for anyone who knows the rules but wants to improve, regardless of age.
Each week includes: • A one-hour group lesson on strategy, tactics, and chess fundamentals • Followed by our normal Thursday session for Hammer members • Plus tips, feedback, and support throughout
Venue: London MindSports Centre, W6 Time: Thursdays, 5:30pm–6.30pm Cost: £100 Discounts: – 50% off course fees for existing Hammersmith members, or – 50% off new Hammersmith membership for course participants
Whether you’re returning to chess after years away or starting fresh, this is the place to build confidence, sharpen your game, and join our thriving chess community.
Ready to pay and play?
Name: Hammersmith Chess Club Sort Code: 40-03-21 Account Number: 91245120
Or ask Adam any questions at enquiries@hammerchess.co.uk
Liverpool Chess Club — this year’s host of the British Chess Championships — has thrown down the gauntlet and challenged Hammersmith to a showdown in the North.
🗓 Saturday 8th November 📍 Liverpool • 3:00–5:00pm – Meet, greet, and soak up the Scouse atmosphere • 5:00–8:00pm – Match play: Hammer vs Liverpool • 8:00–10:00pm – Celebrate chess, camaraderie, and the great city of Liverpool
Think you’ve got what it takes to cross Abbey Road with us? Email John White at jdrw9591@gmail.com
Next Thursday, 18 September, promises to be one of the biggest nights of the year in London chess – and it’s all happening at the Mindsports Centre.
In a tradition designed to keep the season fair, whenever Hammersmith enters two teams in the same division we schedule the head-to-head derby early. The result? A festival of chess: teammate against teammate, captain against captain, friend against friend – thirty Hammer players across fifteen boards.
Three huge matches line up on the same night: • Central London League: Hammer 1 vs Hammer 2 (5 boards) • Middlesex League: Hammer 3 vs Hammer 4 (6 boards) • London League: Hammer MacKenzie vs Hammer Cadets (4 boards)
All matches will start at 7pm sharp and will be the very first fixtures of the new 2025/26 season. With players ranging from around 2200 ECF strength all the way down to those competing in their first-ever rated game, Hammerfest offers opportunities for every level of member.
The only requirements are that you’ve renewed your Hammersmith and ECF memberships. If you’d like to play on Thursday, please contact our newly elected Club Captain at gastonfranco1990@gmail.com. Future matches, for these and all our other teams, will be organised by the respective team captains.
It’s an all-Hammer spectacular we’re calling HAMMERFEST.
Expect a buzzing club room, tough fights, upsets, rivalries, and no quarter given. Some of the boards will even be broadcast live online – so you can follow the action wherever you are.
Forget “friendly fire” – this is family fire. Every player will be out to prove themselves, and every point will matter when the season tables are counted up.
So come down to the MSC, grab a drink, and soak up what is truly the biggest annual event in London club chess.
Hammerfest: the night the Hammers take on the Hammers.
Hammersmith Chess Club invited GM Daniel King once again to present our annual awards for the 2024/25 Season. Danny selected our Game of the Season and showed interesting positions from other nominated games. There were additional prizes for the best players of the season and the winners of our internal tournament series.
GM Daniel King presenting to a large audience at the Mindsports Centre
Danny kicked things off by scattering a few interesting positions from the games around the room and asking the audience to take a look at them and try to find the best move in each position – this ensured the session would be interactive as members were able to suggest moves, at times even surprising the Grandmaster with their creative ideas.
With his trademark charismatic and engaging style, DK walked us through the critical positions of the games, which were played throughout the season by a wide range of our members at all levels, from amateurs to masters. Indeed, it was possible to spot our top IMs Peter Roberson and Tom Rendle in the audience, as well as the winner of the previous two years, Marco Gallana.
This time, the award went to one of our top juniors, Kai Hanache, for his Round 1 win at the English Championship in July. The game featured a positional queen sacrifice which left Kai’s opponent with very passive pieces and an endangered King, until eventually Kai regained the queen while winning material in the process. Replay the game below, and watch the other nominated games on this Lichess Study
After announcing the winner, Danny also presented awards for various categories and internal tournament winners, all of whom received a certificate and a £10 voucher for Chess & Bridge. The full list of winners is below:
Player of the Season: Gaston Franco
First Team Player of the Season: Ash Stewart
Junior of the Season: Aryaman Ganguly
Woman of the Season: Swati Singha
Captain of the season: John White
Sledgehammer Winner: Sarah Ewart
Rockhammer Winner: Nick Fookes
Handicap Blitz Winner: Thomas Bonn
Game of the Season: Kai Hanache
Prize winners receiving awards from GM Danny King. Top L to R: Sarah Ewart, Thomas Bonn, John White. Bottom L to R: Kai Hanache, Gaston Franco, Nick Fookes
Many thanks once again to GM Daniel King, who will also analyse the game on his Youtube Channel (PowerPlayChess) soon. He stressed how difficult it has become to select a winner year after year given the club’s increasing success, with more members, more games being played, and more brilliant moves! As the ECF Club of the Year, let’s make it even harder to choose the 2026 Game of the Season!
