Beyond the Board: Community, Care, and Chess for Everyone in Camberley
At Camberley Chess Club, we pride ourselves on offering a friendly, welcoming environment for players of all ages and abilities—whether they are joining us for casual play or battling it out in local leagues. But our passion for the game doesn’t stop at our regular club nights.
As part of our commitment to the wider community, we are thrilled to spotlight two wonderful aspects of club life: our ongoing community outreach and the personal chess journey of one of our members.
Celebrating Two Years at Corrina Lodge Care Home
Time truly flies when you’re sharing a game you love! This summer marks a major milestone: celebrating over two years since our regular monthly community chess group officially began at Corrina Lodge Care Home on 2nd July 2024.
“Where it all began: The original community chess poster from when we first teamed up with Corrina Lodge Care Home in July 2024. Over two years later, the games and conversations are still going strong!”
Corrina Lodge Care Home’s warm invitation:
“Come and join us to play chess with our residents”
(First Tuesday of every month, 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM)
Representing Camberley Chess Club individually, I join a group of local volunteers alongside Corrina Lodge residents each month. It’s always filled with casual play, friendly competition, and plenty of chess chat—all enjoyed over cups of tea and lighthearted conversations. Corrina Lodge’s activities team does a fantastic job of hosting these gatherings, which continually stimulate minds and foster wonderful connections. We are deeply grateful for our ongoing partnership and look forward to sharing many more games together.
Over the Board and Across the Decades: John Fullwood’s Chess Journey
Beyond our care home outreach, chess is also a bridge that connects people across generations and backgrounds right at our club nights. This month, we are honored to share the remarkable chess journey of active club member John Fullwood.
John’s chess story spans decades. Blind all his life, he started playing around the age of twelve using a tactile board, going on to play competitive chess throughout secondary school. After playing as a postgraduate for Lancaster University, he joined the Hilltop club in Hatfield in 1973—starting in the 5th team and occasionally playing in the 3rd team by 1978. After coming to work for Marconi in Frimley in 1978 and living in Blackwater, he joined the Crowthorne club and played in their second team for about four years.
Following a 40-year hiatus from over-the-board play, the Covid-19 pandemic sparked a return to the game. John began playing online and joined the Braille Chess Association (BCA). While online play felt smooth, he quickly noticed that his over-the-board play was much slower and involved more mistakes than in his younger days. Looking for more over-the-board experience alongside the social aspect of a local club, John joined Camberley Chess Club.
“I looked for a local club to join not only for the quality of the play, but also for the social aspect,” John shares. “I want to record my sincere appreciation for the members of the club who have facilitated my attendance on club nights.”
The Braille Chess Association and Chess Accessibility
John’s experience highlights the wonderful resources available to visually impaired players through the Braille Chess Association (BCA). Founded in 1932 to promote chess among blind and partially sighted people, the BCA currently supports about 150 visually impaired members and 70 fully sighted associate members. Sighted volunteers play a vital role in BCA events by acting as arbiters, stewards, and providing quality opposition.
Organizations like the BCA help make specialized equipment—such as diverse tactile boards and clocks with audio output—accessible through bulk buying and second-hand equipment exchange. In upcoming BCA tournaments featuring over 20 blind players (where John sits comfortably around halfway down the field), members can exchange ideas and equipment. The BCA also boasts standout players like current member Chris Ross, who holds a rating of over 2200, while many BCA members play actively for their local clubs.
A Remarkable Connection: Reginald Bonham
John’s chess journey also features a remarkable historical link to one of the most famous figures in blind chess history: Reginald Bonham.
Bonham won the first English Blind Chess Championship in 1956 and achieved legendary status by winning matches against sighted competition, including the Hastings Reserve Tournament in 1931, the Birmingham Tournament on three consecutive occasions, serving as Worcestershire County Champion twenty times, champion of the nine Midlands Counties three times, and winning the Birmingham Post Cup twice. He also competed in the British Chess Championship on six occasions, achieving a best result of ninth place.
Remarkably, Bonham was John’s mathematics teacher at school. It was Bonham’s encouragement that drove John toward a degree in mathematics and a career in industrial mathematical modelling.
Get Involved
Whether you’re looking to play competitive league chess, join in our club casual play, or find out more about how we support the local community, Camberley Chess Club welcomes you. Come along to one of our sessions or reach out via our contacts page to find out how you can get involved!
Warren Wright New Member Officer Camberley Chess Club
The 2026 Keith Richardson Memorial Tournament was held on Saturday 26th Sep at Camberley Chess Club. Keith was a valued club member from the 1970s, an International Correspondence Grandmaster and very well known in the English chess community. He played for the club right up to his death in 2017. He suffered from Parkinson’s disease and a significant contribution to Parkinson’s UK will be made from this events proceeds.
This was the 9th Keith Richardson event and the format was unchanged from all previous years, as one single section, 6 rounds of Rapidplay, 20 mins plus 5 sec increment . This gave the opportunity for participants to experience playing against a wide variety of rating strengths.
Prize winners
There were some very impressive performances and in particular from the many juniors who had entered and many close finishes particularly in the last couple of rounds.
However, there was a clear winner with 6 point out of 6, Peter Large, winning the 1st placed prize of £150. Peter also wins the FREE first year Camberley Club membership for the highest placed non club member.
In 2nd place was club member Jon Ady with 5 points out 6, winning the £100 2nd place prize.
There were 5 players all with the same 4.5 points: Aditya Sengupta, Mohammad Mozaffari, Harry Chan, Adrian Wallace and Paul Sloane.
So, the 3rd placed prize of £50 went to club member and junior Aditya Sengupta on tie-break.
Harry Chan won the Highest placed junior prize of £50 with a fantastic set of results (and an event performance rating of 1895) and also won the FREE first year Camberley Club membership for the highest placed JUNIOR non club member.
The Under 1600 rating prize of £50 went to Lewis Mallett who scored 3.5 points.
A new prize was introduced this year, the “David and Goliath Prize” awarded to the player who beats an opponent whose rating has the biggest rating difference from their own rating.
The David and Goliath Prize was won by junior club member Jake Meiring, rated 986, who beat a 1598 player, and had an event performance rating of 1321.
Congratulations to all the winners:
Peter Large – 1stJon Ady – 2ndAditya Sengupta – 3rdHarry Chan – JuniorLewis Mallett – U1600Jake Meiring – David and Goliath
Thanks
Special thanks to Thomas West for doing an excellent job as the tournament ECF arbiter, Linda and Bob Wooding for providing and serving the widely acclaimed refreshments throughout the event, and Charlotte Butler who ran the Swiss-Manger pairing software on the day and kept the game by game results up to date as they happened via chess-results on the big screen.
Also thanks to Warren Wright and everyone else who helped with the setting up and the clearing away on the day.
Also thanks to Steve Harley and Martin Wallman for organising the whole event.
Thanks to all the participants for supporting this event and making it so friendly and enjoyable.
There were many very positive comments about the event, like these:
“Hi thank you so much to everyone that helped and organised the tournament yesterday, I really enjoyed it!”
“Thank you very much for the Camberley Chess club and its leadership for arranging a fantastic event. The whole event ran on a time , well organized and well fed”
“It was great.. a very well run Tournament by everyone involved.. a big thankyou from me to Martin & Steve for making it the success it was on the day.”
“Well done, Camberley Chess Club really know how to run a chess tournament!”
The full results can be seen below, and if you click on the image you can get further details by round, performance ratings etc. There are also many photos below too.
The club hosted an ECF rated Junior Blitz tournament yesterday, featuring 9 junior members, including several taking part in their first competitive event. The 5‑minute + 3‑second increment time control produced fast, tactical games and tested everyone’s ability to handle time pressure.
Despite a few dramatic time‑trouble finishes, the event was played in an excellent spirit throughout, with friendly behaviour and good sportsmanship from all participants.
Congratulations to the prize‑winners and well done to every junior who took part. We also extend our thanks to Charlotte B for her valuable help in running the tournament.
Final standings: 1st – Aditya 2nd – Ryan 3rd – Daniel
Click on table below, to see more detail including individual performance ratings for this tournament.
As the club’s New Member Officer, my job is to help you find your place here—whether that means enjoying a relaxed social game or setting your sights on competitive league play.
My own route to the board wasn’t a conventional chess upbringing. Before I ever studied opening theory, my world was martial arts—spending 8 years training hard in Taekwondo, earning a 2nd Degree Black Belt, serving as a National Instructor, Training with the England Squad and running my own club. That journey demanded everything: passion, dedication, confidence, skill, tactics, strategy, physical and mental fitness, flexibility, resilience, and true spirit.
Looking back, stepping onto the mat and sitting opposite an opponent at board one share a very specific dynamic: it is ultimately a solo journey, underpinned by an authentic community spirit.
The Solo Journey & Authentic Community Spirit
The Grind: Whether you’re drilling a kick or reviewing endgame tactics alone, progress takes personal accountability and quiet focus. Under the clock, you are entirely on your own.
The Post-Mortem Bond: You can battle someone fiercely across the board for hours, only to lean in afterward, laugh at a missed tactic, and break down the game together over a chat. That shared camaraderie is the true heartbeat of our club.
Stepping Up: Bridging Social Play to League Action
If you have ambitions to play competitive chess, our club provides a fantastic pathway. A core part of my role is helping new members gain the experience, confidence, and match sharpness needed to break into our C-teams across the Surrey Borders League and Berkshire League.
With accessible rating caps generally sitting around the U1550 ECF mark, these developmental divisions are ideal, friendly entry points for club-standard players. Whether you’re transitioning from casual play or dusting off an old rating, here is how we make that happen:
Building Experience: We provide a supportive, fun environment during our Thursday sessions and Sunday casual meetups to help you sharpen your skills, test out openings, and get comfortable playing with a clock.
Mastering the Basics: League matches require keeping score. If you’re new to recording your games, I am more than happy to help you get to grips with chess notation so you feel completely confident.
League Pathways: Once you’re ready, I’m here to guide you step-by-step into our Surrey Borders and Berkshire League C-teams, ensuring you feel fully supported.
Club Competitions & Support: I can also help you navigate entry into our internal club tournaments to give you extra competitive reps in a friendly setting.
Are you looking to jump straight into league practice, or just ease in with a friendly social game first?
Drop by a club night or a Sunday session, look out for me, and say hello.
Warren Wright New Member Officer Camberley Chess Club
We had 32 players at our latest Open Blitz tournament. We were pleased to welcome 17 non-members. As usual it was played in our spacious community centre hall with the large projector screen used for pairing and results throughout the 6 rounds.
There was a large variation in player strength, from unrated up to over 2000, with an average of around 1500. As usual the Swiss Manager program pairs players who have the same (or nearly the same) number of points after each and every round, without playing the same person twice and giving roughly equal white and black games to each player.
Congratulations to all the players for enduring the tough 5 minutes plus 3 second increment Blitz time control. This made for some interesting games, all under the watchful eye of our club ECF Arbiter Thomas West – thanks Thomas.
After the 6 rounds there was a close finish with 4 players on 5 points out of 6, which meant the top 4 were split only by the tie breaks:
In first placed was Jon Ady.
In second place Colin Purdon.
A special mention for a fantastic performance goes to 1262 rated junior Shaurya Zadoo, well done!
In fourth place was Mohammad Mozaffari.
Jon Ady, Mohammad Mozaffari, Shaurya Zadoo and Colin Purdon.
The final cross table is below and if you click on the image, you can then get all the details, individual performance results etc from chess-results.
Camberley Chess Club members enjoyed a memorable evening on Thursday when leading club member FM Jon Ady gave a simultaneous display against 17 opponents.
Taking on all 17 players at once, Jon circled the room continuously, making a move on each board before returning for the next round. Simultaneous displays are mentally and physically demanding, requiring exceptional concentration over several hours.
Jon produced a superb performance, finishing with 15 wins, one draw and just one defeat, giving him a remarkable score of 15½ points from 17 games (91.2%).
Congratulations go to Daniel Seaton, who recorded the evening’s only victory over Jon, while Paul Sloane earned an excellent draw.
The evening was enjoyed by everyone who took part, providing players of all strengths with the rare opportunity to test themselves against one of the club’s strongest players in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. Many of the games developed into hard-fought contests and gave participants plenty to analyse afterwards.
Camberley Chess Club would like to thank Jon for giving up his time to provide such an entertaining and memorable event, and to everyone who took part and helped make the evening such a success.
The 2026 Rapid Tournament was held over three successive warm July Thursday evenings. There were 22 entrants, although many were not able to play all rounds due to holidays.
Above is the start of round 1.
Our 2025 Rapid Champion, Jon Ady started strongly winning his first 3 rounds, as did Steve Harley. Next placed were 7 with 2 out of 3.
In round 4, above, Steve gets ready to reply to Jon’s first move as white, and Bob Wooding cannot believe he is on board 2 (It has never happened to him before) as he takes on Aditya.
The situation after round 5 was Steve on 5 points, Jon on 4 points and Ryan on 3.5 points.
After a tense last couple of last rounds Steve and Aditya agree a draw, resulting in Steve winning the tournament outright and Jon coming second.
There were some outstanding performances particularly by junior Ryan who finished equal 3rd with 3.5 points. This was Ryan’s first club tournament and he had some great games. Aditya, Bob W, Ollie, Sid and Tristan all finished on 3.5 points too. Also a mention for junior Jake M. who performed well in a tough field.
Above, Jon hands the Rapid Trophy to the worthy winner, Steve Harley. On receiving the trophy Steve commented “This is the first trophy I have won since I was 16!” It was a nice surprise to see Steve winning a trophy, rather than more usually handing them out!
Full details are in the cross table above. Click on it to go into more details, e.g. select a player for performance ratings etc.
The Camberley A team had a very successful season, though fell agonisingly short of two major trophies. We led Division 1 (which Camberley have not won since 2008) until the very last match of the season, being pipped at the post by Crowthorne by just one point. Similarly, we reached the final of the Premier Precision Trophy, being beaten by a very strong Reading side. Though we came up just short in these competitions, this should not detract from the consistently very high level of chess that was played by the team’s regular players – our results back this up! We will be back again next season to hopefully get over the line.
Berkshire League Division 2 (Tim Bland)
This season the Camberley B team, operating in Division 2, came third overall. It was a tough season with some very close matches that didn’t quite go our way on occasion. We still hit the podium but finished 3 points adrift of the top placed Bracknell A.
This is a strong league, where we often face players rated well over 1900 or 2000 on the top boards. The season features 10 matches and significant travel, so there are no easy games. We lost 1 match, won 5 and drew 4. I’m pleased with the result even if it means we have to give the trophy back… temporarily.
15 different Camberley players graced the boards this season. I was fortunate to welcome Mike Morgan and Tristan Nowell as new players into the fold this year; both had strong performances. Thanks to everyone who played. Special nods for performance rating go to Adrian (2105), Paul Sloane (1962), Aditya (1960!), and I was personally quite pleased to hit a performance rating of 1885 across 6 games.
I was also very proud to drag coax Steve out of his unnecessarily early retirement. Steve played 2 games and scored 100%. So he’ll be on the sheet next year whether he likes it or not. With that said, if there are any Camberley players who want to play in the team, regardless of your rating, please let me know and I will ensure you are at least offered an opportunity to play this coming season. All are welcome.
Berkshire League Division 3 (Josh Jackson)
This season with Camberley C was an absolute treat, my first as captain that allowed me, and the rest of the team to see some of the great highs and lows that come with the game of chess.
Through the season, the team remained undefeated, quite the feat in the face of an everlasting horde of underrated juniors. We did well not to let that get the best of us, and pushed on to give the league winners their only two draws and to finish second overall. (Reading won every other game!)
We were unfortunate not to win the league I think, trailing by only two points, seven points clear of third place.
Great performances all around, with what feels like the majority of matches finishing with results down to the last board. Either to secure us a deserved win, or to bag a tight draw against a tough opponent. There were many nail-biting finishes, often with both teams standing over the final game watching blunders be made and material won by either side.
I would like to give a shout-out to some key players that delivered over the season.
Aditya with a performance rating of over 2000, scored 3/3 in key games taking down the top board where those points mattered the most for the result.
Daniel, who remained reliable with 6/7 often squeezing points out of endgames with only a slight advantage.
Tristan Nowell, who (if we ignore Bg2 in the first game of the season) played incredibly well and out-booked every opponent and has improved massively over this first season at the club with 3/4. I will never forget the sheer joy coming from hearing how he smoked his opponent with an obscure Tal variation Caro Kann.
On a personal note, the past season saw me get to play the most chess I have ever played, improving over roughly 100 rating points and having a blast along the way scoring 8/9. although sadly dropping a point where it mattered most.
Thank you to everyone for playing, hopefully next season we can do the same if not better!
Surrey Border League Division 1 (Bob Smith)
Our Camberley A Team played in the SBL Division 1 for the first time in a number of years. Against very strong teams from Farnham, Guildford and Reading our play deserved more than the 5 ½ game points we achieved across the 6 games and we also managed at least ½ point in each game. Our best match of the season was a close 3-2 defeat away to Farnham. This also featured 2 of the best games of the season where both Zac and Ian won on boards 1 and 2 against top opposition. Ian’s fiery dragon sent his opponent home within the first hour! The other game to highlight was Simon’s draw with IM Nigel Povah at home to Guildford. We had 12 players represent with Zac, Ian and Bob playing 4, Simon, Paul, Tim, and Mike playing 3 games each. Overall, despite the challenge faced against higher rated opposition on all boards in every match the team represented the club well. It wasn’t often that we could play our strongest team due to school, work and travel so thanks to everyone who stepped in to ensure that we did field a team for each match.
Surrey Border League Division 3 (James Roberts)
Camberley B Secure Joint-Top Finish in Solid Division 3 Debut
Camberley B have concluded a successful campaign in Division 3, demonstrating that the squad is well equipped to compete at this higher level following recent promotion. The team delivered a strong performance across the season, finishing joint-first on match points alongside Guildford C. Out of six fixtures, Camberley B secured four victories and suffered two defeats, accumulating a total of 8 match points. The team narrowly missed out on the title, finishing tied on 8 match points but with 15.5 game points to Guildford C’s 16.5.
Season Results Overview – September 29, 2025: The season opened with a 4-1 away defeat against Guildford C. – November 13, 2025: The team rebounded with a 3-2 away victory against Farnham C. – December 4, 2025: Momentum continued with a 3.5 – 1.5 home win over Godalming A. – January 29, 2026: A secondary encounter with Guildford C resulted in a 1.5 – 3.5 loss at home. – March 12, 2026: The squad completed a season double over Farnham C with a 3-2 home win. – April 1, 2026: The season concluded with a 3.5 – 1.5 away triumph against Godalming A, consolidating the team’s position at the top of the table.
A Dramatic Title Race The conclusion of the season provided plenty of drama. Camberley B completed all six fixtures early and sat at the top of the table, having only dropped points in the two matches against Guildford C. At that stage, Guildford C still had three matches left to play, making an outright league title for Camberley look unlikely. However, a combination of a forfeited match and Godalming defeating Guildford in the final game of the season allowed Camberley B to finish level on match points.
Overall an excellent season, and a huge thank you to all the members who played. Some honourable mentions to the team regulars; Bob Smith, Jan Demjan and David Bean.
Surrey Border League Division 5 (Bob Wooding)
First, I would like to say this has been the most enjoyable season I’ve been involved in.
The Camberley C team started with a 2-3 loss against Godalming a bit of a shock and a wake-up night. We followed with 2 wins and then played Crowthorne away which we drew. Crowthorne won this division last season so we knew this was a good result.
Next up was away at Woking who at this stage were top of the league. Our team had an unbelievable night at Woking winning 1/2 -4 1/2 with great wins from Tristan Searle, Jake and Lee Conyard and Tim Bland.
From that evening I decided to play the strongest team possible and we followed up with wins against Godalming Guildford and Farnham. At this stage of the season Josh Jackson came back into the team and didn’t stop winning.
Second from last game Crowthorne at home and the match started really well with Josh and Jake winning 2-0 up what could go wrong – well our top 3 boards all lost for the only time of the season Lee, Tim and then myself losing on time
The next week was our last match at home against Woking who now only needed a Draw to win the league. And what a match. First up was a win from Josh then a defeat for Tristan. Tim Bland was getting crushed on board 1 then out of the blue his opponent makes a mistake and we’re 2-1 up, my match goes down to the last seconds and I lose the ending – 2-2. Down to Lee who was in an equal position with a minute on his clock, his opponent Graham Andrews has 30 seconds left and cracks under pressure by making his move and not pressing his clock 3-2 to us and we’ve won the league!
We had 9 players play in total, with the standout player being Lee Conyard with 6 wins from 7 games.
I would like to thank everyone who played. Thanks for a great season!
Surrey Border League Rapid Division 1 (Steve Harley)
The Rapid A team had by far its best season yet. We were able to field some really strong teams throughout the season. Jon Ady and Dildarav Lishoy were mainstays on the top two boards; they both scored 60+% against some very strong opponents. In the first half of the season we beat Godalming and Crowthorne comfortably, but lost 5.5-2.5 away at Farnham. However in January we had a fantastic result beating Farnham 4.5-3.5 in the return match (notably featuring Jon 2-0 Clive Frostick). A further win away at Crowthorne retained our hopes of finishing level with Farnham. Unfortunately we lost our last match 3-5 at Godalming, with Jon having a very rare 0-2 setback against their star player Gwilym Price. Nine members played in the team this season – thanks to everyone that turned out for the team.
Surrey Border League Rapid Division 2 (Bob Wooding)
The Rapid B team finished 2nd in its first season and I wanted to go one better this season.
We started with a win against Godalming then went to Farnham. Steve Harley came into the team for his first game and came up against Tim Davis; this was a match I thought we were going to lose until Steve won his second game giving us a draw.
After 2 more wins, including revenge over Farnham, we played Crowthorne away and again Steve got the short straw having to play Happy Derrick Johnson.
The match ended drawn and after winning all our remaining matches we won the league by a clear point.
8 different players played with stand-out performances from Daniel (7 wins from 8), Steve (9 1/2 from 14), Josh (8 1/2 from 14) and myself (10 from 12).
Thanks everyone who played and it was really great to win the league!
Surrey Border League Cups (Steve Harley)
In the Bell Trophy team went out 2-3 in the first round at home to Bracknell, with wins for Seb Twisk and Lee Conyard.
The Haslemere Trophy was altogether more successful. I round 1 we avenged last year’s defeat in the final by beating Godalming away. As always, I chose players who I was confident would overperform their ratings. We were heavily outrated and needed only 2.5/10 to win the match. As it turned out we scored 1.5 in the first round of games, and another 2 in the second round to go through comfortably. Only the captain, acting as sacrificial lamb on board 1, did not score at least half a point.
The semi-final at home to Fleet and Farnborough was a bizarre and memorable occasion. F&F went full on, with GM Simon Williams on top board, and 2000+ players on 2-5. The average rating difference was 457 points, meaning they need to win 10-0. Towards the end it was 8-0, with me clinging on to a possible draw against Clive Frostick (a ringer for the evening) and Jack Maiden playing out a tense ending versus their captain Lee Savill (rated 460 points above Jack).
Jack brilliantly gave up a piece to get passed A and H pawns; Lee’s Knight could not stop both of them. In time trouble they agreed a draw to give us a fantastic 0.5-9.5 victory.
Jack Maiden’s draw clinched the title
After the incredible semi, the final at Crowthorne was relatively straightforward. Again we were outrated, this time by an average of 190 points, which meant we needed 3/10 to win. David Bean and Lee Conyard both won their first games to get us close, then Lee and I both won in the second and David drew, to score us 4.5 and victory.
It was a great pleasure to captain the Haslemere team – it is my favourite format and the handicap system really makes every game exciting. Thanks to all 8 players who represented us over the three matches.
