UK Parliamentary Chess Club vs Camberley Chess Club
On Monday 19th May 2025, eleven Camberley Chess Club members travelled to Portcullis House in the Houses of Parliament to play the Parliamentary Chess Club. Captained by Peter Hornsby, the club had recently been re-launched following a friendly match between the House of Lords and the House of Commons, which was played in the Speaker’s House in 2023. The occasion was as much about the location as it was the chess, as it was a rare opportunity for us to play a few friendly games in the home of the nation’s politics.
To Navigate quickly – please use the following links.
- The Match Reports – Boards 1-3, Boards 4-5, Board 6, Board 7-9, Boards 10-11
- Board 6 Puzzle
- The Final Score
Having played there before, Paul led the way in his unmistakable blue Camberley Chess Club shirt, while those queuing nearby quietly speculated which select committee we might be attending. One thing was certain, no one questions a man in polyester chess regalia – as we were promptly let in through security, eagerly awaiting our opponents.
As we got setup and brought 11 tables together, Peter informed us of a strict no-photos rule. So all the photos you see here weren’t taken by us, and we don’t even know how they got here.
The Match
The match was 11 boards, with ratings on both sides ranging from around 1000 to 1900. Below are the summary reports of each game, submitted by the players after the match.
Board 1
Martin Wallman (Club Chairman)
vs
Jamie Njoku-Goodwin (Former Director of Strategy at 10 Downing Street)
Game one (White – Win) – Martin played his typical King’s Indian Attack, with Jamie wasting a few precious moves with his queen and rook. Martin built a strong attack with the only pathway out involving sacrificing material. The resulting position was still too crushing, and the black King was chased into disaster.
Game two (Black – Loss) – Again Martin playing the same setup with a King’s Indian Defence which went well. However, he missed a few things in the middlegame which lead to an Queen endgame with five pawns each. Jamie is an experienced and fast online blitz player, and played the ending faster and better than Martin to turn the scoreline even at 1-1.
Final Score: 1-1
Board 2
Mark Payne (Club Treasurer and Team Captain)
vs
Peter Hornsby (Captain and Senior Researcher for Lord Bailey of Paddington)
Game one (Black – Win)- Peter opened with the London System, befitting the occasion. It was a relatively even game with a lot of manoeuvring before Peter missed a tactical trick that let Mark win the exchange which proved decisive when they got to the endgame.
Game two (White- Win) – “Not do be outdone”, Mark played a London System too in the second game. This time around, he had an early kingside mating attack going that was simply unstoppable.
Final Score: 2-0
Board 3
Paul Sloane (Former Club Treasurer and Best Dressed)
vs
Griff Simon (Parliamentary Assistant to Tahir Ali MP)
Game one (White- Loss)- The opening was a Grunfeld, highly theoretical. Paul managed to gain a slight a advantage however was outplayed in a complex middlegame which proved decisive.
Game two (Black- Loss) – In the second game, Paul played a dutch defence against his opponents 1.d4, however similarlary to the first game – Paul managed a to gain a slight advantage, but fell victim to a highly complex middlegame position that was well traversed by his opponent.
Final Score: 0-2
Board 4
Steve Harley (Club Secretary)
vs
Oliver Moorhouse (Former Parliamentary Researcher to David Morris)
Game one (White – Win) – The opening was a Benoni/Benko Gambit hyvbrid but black brought out his Queen too soon and it got chased around while white developed pieces and created a powerful centre. Black tried to break out on the kingside, but left his King exposed to a fatal mating attack.
Game two (Black – Win) – Faced with 1. e4, Steve played his trusty Sicilian and was met with a Smith-Morra Gambit. A much closer game, with Steve accepting the pawn sacrifice and did not fall for any of the usual Smith-Morra cheap tricks. It was going to be tough to convert a pawn up, but Steve planted a knight on d4, which was decisive when white blundered to allow a king and rook fork with less than 30 seconds on his clock.
Final Score: 2-0
Board 5
Tim Bland (Team Captain and Procurer of Paul’s Shirt)
vs
Alfie Coulstock-Cockeram (Parliamentary Assistant to Sam Carling MP)
Game one (White – Loss) – Tim opened with a Reti Nimzo-Larsen attack, that lead to a complex middlegame where his tricky opponent played tactically and found a beautiful checkmating pattern sacrificing a piece.
Game two (Black – Win) – This time Tim was prepared for potentially unsound and ironically cavalier sacrifices. When the forseen sacrifice of a knight was played, Tim remained calm and declined to take the bait. The game then developed into a complex position where his opponent lost on time.
Final Score: 1-1
Board 6
Bob Smith (Team Captain)
vs
Matt Korris (House of Lords Journal Office)
Game one (White – Win) – In the first game as white, my opponent Matt played the Chigorin defence in response to my queen pawn opening. I had an early initiative and probed some small weaknesses in the position which he defended well. As we moved into the middle game, both bishops and a knight were exchanged and play focused on the centre as I attacked his k-pawn with my Queen and both rooks.
However, with time running down and no breakthrough possible I switched the attack to the queenside and offered him a pawn for some open lines. Unfortunately, as Queens and rooks were all exchanged, I was left a pawn down in a Knight and five pawns versus Knight and 4 pawns ending all on the k-side with my opponent having a passed pawn on the Queen file. With my clock showing less than 30 seconds I threw in a few Knight checks to get some seconds back whilst I worked how to defend what now seemed a lost position. However, as my opponent struggled to make headway with his King, Knight and passed pawn I managed to capture his g and h pawns and made a path for my own h pawn to queen which led to checkmate shortly afterwards. A closely fought game which went to the wire both positionally and on the clock. This was the last game to finish in round one.
Game two (Black – Win) – In our second game it soon became clear that the first game had taken a lot out of Matt. He played the advance e5 variation against my Scandinavian but after an early skirmish in the centre I managed to win his bishop whilst checking his king. After that he lost his concentration and I picked up another couple of pieces with a discovered check and a discovered attack on his Queen. From there it was a matter of trading queens and rooks and he resigned.
Final Score: 2-0
I managed to snag the position right at the end of Bob’s second game. It can’t be a chess article without some relevant puzzle or analysis. Black to move and checkmate in two.
Board 7
Bob Wooding (Team Captain)
vs
Daniela Stuhlmann (House of Lords Librarian)
Game one (Black- Win) – Bob was suprised when his opponent opted to plant her knight on h3, which was immediately taken leaving her with doubled pawns right out of the gate. Some moves later, Bob built up a checkmating attack that saw his opponent getting checkmated on h2.
Game two (White – Win) – Bob pulled out a trick card next, playing a London System which is not your typical Wooding-esque hedgehog structure. nevertheless, Bob smashed through her defence in the opening and went on to win the second game.
Final Score: 2-0
Board 8
Josh Jackson (Publicity Officer)
vs
Gordon Phillips (Assistant Director – Strategic Estates)
Game one (Black – Draw) – The only draw of the entire match, it saw some confident tactical play from an experimental Owen’s defence 1. e4, b6. With both players playing switfity, it traded down from a complex opening to a straightforward rook and bishop endgame. A few moves later, the rooks were traded and a draw was offered by Josh, then accepted by Gordon. Both players knew where the opposite-coloured bishop endgame was heading.
Game two (White – Win) – Josh played his typical Catalan with a delayed c4 and my opponent played a King’s Indian Defence. After Gordon castled queenside rather riskily, Josh built up a deadly attack that exploited a double-pin from the Catalan fianchetto’d bishop and rook on c1. With an invading queen and the tension of overworked defending pieces being immovable, the choice for black came between giving up the queen to a king-queen fork from a knight, or getting checkmated. Black resigned.
Final Score: 1.5-0.5
Board 9
Annabelle Parker (Publicity Officer)
vs
Benjamin Westhead (Business Management Director, Restoration and Renewal Client Team)
Game one (White – Win) – Annabelle played her battle-tested Catalan opening, with her opponent Benjamin playing a Slav defence. However the opening proved difficult for Benjamin and Annabelle, well versed in the Catalan, trapped her opponent’s Queen leading to a swift victory.
Game two (Black – Win) – White opened with 1. e4 and Annabelle replied in style with her Pirc defence. The middlegame was highly complex and Benjamin missed a nice rook sacrifice to allow him promote a pawn and be in a winning position. Shortly after, he missed a critical tactical idea from Annabelle and left checkmate in one hanging – which Annabelle had seen a mile off and won the second game.
Final Score: 2-0
Board 10
Warren Wright (New Members Officer)
vs
Lewis Jones (Former Senior Parliamentary Assistant to Simon Baynes MP)
Game one (Black- Win) – Warren played the Pirc defence in response to white’s 1. e4, with the rest of white’s opening moves being somewhat random moves, developing many minor pieces. However a pawn push forking a Knight & Bishop swiftly followed by another pawn push forking again, casused undue stress for white who then subsequently blundered his queen! White resigned.
Game two (White – Win) – It was a scotch opening – where Warren seized an opportunity early in the game to sacrifice a bishop and disrupt black’s castled king. In taking back, black realised that Warren’s queen was in the battery and would have beautifully check-forked the king, picking up the bishop. To avoid this, black did not recapture, however Warren marched a kingside pawn towards black’s king, and ended the game with a swift attack along the board diagonals with a Bishop and Queen, supported by the marching pawn.
Final Score: 2-0
Board 11
Luke Alstrom (Fixtures Secretary and Team Captain)
vs
Torin Page (Portfolio Coordinator – Strategic Estates)
Game one (White- Win) – Luke opened with what was initially going to be his typical Jobava London, starting with 1.d4, and was met with the dubious 1.. e5 the Englund Gambit. White the lesser player may fall victim to such an opening, Luke navigated it well and won his opponents queen in the end.
Game two (Black- Win) – Starting out with 1. f4, Torin played the Bird Opening. This was a much closer game where he could’ve caused a few problems for Luke, however couldn’t find the critical moves. Luke ended up winning a piece by checking the King with the queen, forking it with a Bishop. Later in the game, white lost a Rook going into an endgame leaving the postional that of a Bishop and Rook vs King. White lost on time, but the position was hopeless to defend anyway.
Final Score: 2-0
The Final Score
The total score for the match was 17.5 – 4.5, a nice win for Camberley Chess Club.
After the game, we recieved an amazing tour of the House of Commons and the surrounding halls that make up Parliament. We even got to observe a debate on a bill in-person, from the Common’s observation gallery!
It was an amazing event, and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. We would like to thank Peter Hornsby and everyone at the UK Parliamentary Chess Club for inviting and playing us. Additionally, we would like to thank Parliament’s board 10 player Lewis Jones, who gave us an incredibly detailed and fact-filled tour of some of the areas in the Houses of Parliament. We hope to return to Portcullis House when we have the chance, and we wish Peter and the rest of the team all the best in their future chess endeavours.
