In July we held our annual Camberley Chess Club Rapid Championship, in six rounds over three days, two rounds per day our Champion was decided.
Congratulations to our winner, FM Jon Ady! With an impressive score of 5.5/6. Scoring a victory over almost every opponent he faced.
Our 2025 Club Rapid Champion – FM Jon Ady
Final Standings
Full standings and round-by-round results: click here
Notable performances
Last year’s winner, David Bean ended on 4/6, only dropping one point losing to the top seed and eventual winner, and another point due to two byes in the first two rounds. Who knows, if things may have turned out a little differently, David could have been on to retaining the title.
Naturally, there has to be a mention for anyone that stands in the way of FM Jon Ady scoring 6/6 and making us look bad. So for that reason, thank you to Adrian Wallace, who scored a draw in his third-round matchup against Jon. No doubt saving a bit of club dignitiy for the rest of us in the face of a FIDE Master! Adrian was unbeaten throughout the tournament, one of the only players to do so while playing all six rounds, the other player who did being our new Champion.
All jokes aside, it was a great chance for everyone across the rating range to play some rapid chess, to learn and most importantly have fun (or for some, that only comes when you’re winning).
I for one learned in my first round pairing against Adrian that I clearly don’t know how to play against a benoni, or at the very least how to do so without giving up a peice in the process.
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.
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Portcullis House (left) and Elizabeth Tower, as seen from our short walk through the inner courtyard of the Houses of Parliament.
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)
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.
Report from Camberley A v Fleet & Farnborough A – 24th March 2025
The lineups for this match looked as they typically do for Camberley, with a team consisting of Martin on board one, Colin two, Paul on three and Tim on four. On any other day this would be a strong team eyeing the victory. However for the second time this season we faced GM Simon K Williams on board one, and 2200-rated Blair Connell on board two.
So to get the standard report out of the way, the match ended 5.5-2.5 to Fleet & Farnborough. It was a tough match, with the first round of games ending with a loss on board one & two, and draws on boards three & four.
The already dim hopes of the winning were doing little to dampen spirits in the second round, coming out guns-blazing, channelling Han Solo’s “never tell me the odds” line.
The second round saw Tim play his trusty London System on board four, taking home a win after his opponent made a critical error coming out of the opening. Both Paul and Colin met similar fates ending up with losses in their second games.
With one game left, and the match already being won for Fleet & Farnborough, eveyone emptied out of the room heading for the bar in typical fashion, already predicting another loss on board one.
Those paying particular attention to the score at this point may slowly come to the revelation of what must have happened on board one…
Simon and Martin having a post-mortem on the game.
“Against All Odds” – Martin “Stone” Wallman
After dubbing himself before the match a sacrifical lamb to board one’s GM Simon K Williams, Martin had done the unthinkable.
The game started with Martin playing a Scandinavian, certainly a brave opening considering his opponent. As the game progressed into a tricky middlegame, material was even… You would think Martin was down a queen if all you listened to were the opinions of everyone in the bar.
General consensus in the bar was that this was heading for a Martin defeat, simply due to the 659-point rating difference
Despite the match already being lost and thoughts of his previous double-defeat at the hands of Simon, Martin persisted into an endgame which, with perfect play, was a draw. To even get to this point against such a formidable opponent was enough to go home happy, but Martin wasn’t letting go that easy.
A Draw!
You should have seen the captain’s reaction! Martin had successfully defended a same-coloured bishop ending, where any small mistake would end in disaster. With Simon setting tactical trap after trap, Martin navigated the endgame perfectly – both with under 3 minutes on the clock!
After a long time shuffling Simon realised Martin “Stone” Wallman was not going to break down, and accepted a draw offer.
The full game is below, annotated by Martin, and on our Games Page, as well as our Hall Of Games study on lichess. The game goes up until the endgame, where you can see the drawn position. The game went on for many unrecorded moves after that of deadlock and solid defending before the draw was finally agreed.
In January, our one and only Aditya Vikram Sengupta achieved the title of Arena Candidate Master (ACM). A feirce opponent to any over-the-board, now a proven Master in FIDE’s Arena!
Achieving an ACM title is no small feat—out of millions of online chess players, only 1,213 hold this title worldwide. It serves as a testament to a player’s dedication, strategic depth, and consistency over many games.
What is an ACM title?
As I’m sure anyone reading this knows, FIDE, the international chess federation, awards titles to players that achieve high levels of chess both over the board and online.
The ACM title in chess is an online title awarded by FIDE through its online platform, Arena. Unlike over-the-board titles, ACM is not based on FIDE’s classical rating system but instead requires players to achieve a specific rating threshold in FIDE’s online Arena.
How do you achieve the ACM title?
FIDE states that to achieve this title, the player must maintain at least a rating of 1100 for either 50 games of Rapid, 100 of Blitz or 150 of Bullet.
For more information on FIDE’s Arena titles, click here.
Aditya’s own words on becoming an Arena Candidate Master:
After a lot of hard work and dedication to chess, I finally accomplished the ACM title (Arena Candidate Master). I achieved this by keeping on playing on the FIDE Online Arena website.
My journey has been filled with studying openings, analysing positions and improving my skills. I am incredibly grateful for the support and encouragement of my family, friends and seniors of my club who have been with me every step of the way.
This accomplishment not only represents how much I have grown as a player but also motivates me to keep pushing my limits and simply enjoying chess.
It was great fun during our yearly Christmas Chess 960 tournament (aka Fischer Random or Freestyle Chess), where we had a good turnout of players from the club.
The format was a 6 round Swiss 5+0 Blitz playing Chess 960, with no castling. This promoted some agressive and creative play, where there was only one draw the whole tournament!
Congratulations to FM Jon Ady, who won the tournament with a perfect score of 6/6, and to Nisandu, who was the highest-placed junior.
Thank you to everyone who came to play, and to Martin for setting it up and running the tournament, and to Steve for donating the prizes.
We hope everyone has a great holiday period and a happy new year, and we look forward to the next Chess 960 event at the club.
GM Simon Williams is well known in the English and International chess scene, creating many online courses and presenting coverage and analysis of top level matches and tournaments. Currently, GM Williams is ranked number 18 in the country with a rating of 2476! After the match, he informed us that in the coming weeks he is off to Norway, to cover the World Chess Championship.
Quite a few of our club are actively watching every game of this historic event, and are discussing and following along with each game via Whatsapp, so we are looking forward to seeing him cover it.
Last thursday the 28th of November, the Rapid A team had a scheduled match against Fleet and Farnborough in the Surrey Border League RP1. GM Simon K Williams (also known as Ginger GM on social platforms) had played as a junior at Fleet and Farnborough Chess Club, and has recently returned to playing for them in the local leagues. This is where we found him down as playing on Board 1 against our very own “GM” (General Manager) and chairperson Martin Wallman.
On the left, for Camberley: Martin J Wallman (1819) and Colin J Lyne (1776) On the right, for Fleet & Farnborough: GM Simon K Williams (2476), Blair Connell (2231)
Game 2, Martin Wallman v. GM Simon K Williams
I had the pleasure of being able to witness the final few blows of the last game between Ginger GM and Martin, and some key analysis after the game. Let’s take a look at the second game between GM Simon Williams and Martin Wallman. If you wish to easily plug this into chess.com’s analysis click here!
The game ended with an astounding checkmate that came from the Grandmaster’s advanced pawns out of the opening, nullifying Martin’s bishop and knight. The engine reads black’s accuracy at 95%, which is a level of play most cannot get in a standardplay game. Yet, when I had watched GM Williams deliver his final few moves to checkmate Martin, he had only used just over a minute on the clock!
We at Camberley Chess Club are glad to see Grandmaster Simon Williams playing locally. We remain in correspondence with him, and our chess club looks forward to exploring opportunities to collaborate with him in the future. It’s inspiring to see a player of his caliber engaging with the local chess community, and we eagerly anticipate following his continued contributions to the game.
Camberley Chess Club are very proud to have received the ECF Club of the Year Award.
The award trophy was presented to the club on behalf of the ECF by IM Andrew Martin at Camberley Chess Club’s home location on Thursday 21st October 2021.
IM Andrew Martin praised the committee and club’s achievements over the last year.
Martin Wallman, Andrew Martin
Martin Wallman, Paul Sloane, Andrew Martin and Steve Harley
On receiving the award, Chairperson Martin Wallman thanked Andrew for presenting the award and thanked all the club members who had contributed with their hard work, particularly the committee members Steve Harley (secretary), Paul Sloane (last year’s Treasurer) and John Upham. A special thanks went to all the presenters who contributed their time.
