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
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.
Last Thursday at the club we held our annual blitz championship. An 8-round showdown with levels from local patzer to FIDE Master. The night was filled with upsets, an early champion, some great chess and in standard blitz fashion, lots of flagging.
Previous joint-champions Daniel Seaton and Colin Purdon were both in attendance, with Daniel resigning himself to giving up the title before the games even began! The field was much stronger than last year, as members FM Jon Ady, Simon Knight and Adrian Wallace were new joiners this year, bringing up the average rating significantly.
Daniel runs through the tournament results – his last chance to clutch the trophy before having to hand it over.
The Champion
A huge congratulations to Simon Knight, who won the tournament before the start of the last round! Two points clear heading into round 8, Simon held a performance of 7/7 with six wins and one full-point bye at that point. Sadly he was to face FM Jon Ady in the final round and suffered a loss, ending on 7/8. Nevertheless, Simon takes the title from last year’s joint-champions Daniel and Colin with a championship-worthy performance.
Simon had joined the club for the first time that week to participate, and we are incredibly happy to welcome him for our summer of tournaments and championships. I suspect the time at our casual Sunday afternoons at Pine Ridge Golf Club had given Simon all the inside information needed to cut through the competition and earn the title! Well played, and we hope to see you at more of our events in the future.
Out with the old, in with the new: Winner and Club Blitz Champion Simon Knight holding the trophy, while Daniel covers his defeat with a smile.
Blitz is always a roll of the dice. In 3+2 time control over the board, even the best players may stop and think for a second too long, and get into time trouble. For this reason, blitz events are always a mixed bag of expected results, and unexpected upsets. Here are the full standings after round 8:
After unluckily flagging in a round 2 matchup against Steve Harley, winner of last year’s Open Blitz FM Jon Ady warned me you must not “fall in love with the position” – Going to show that even master-level players may think for a moment too long and suffer the consequences.
Warren Wright took down A-team legend Tim Mowlem in round 6, and ended on a respectable 4/8 with a high performance rating a few hundred points over his current rating! Warren’s style of all-out attack is seems very well suited to the blitz time control, well played Warren.
The Club Blitz started the 2025 summer cirucit of events with a bang, and I for one am looking forward to the next tournament!
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.
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.
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.
We had an enjoyable Christmas Social “Fish and Chess” Event at Kim’s Plaice, Frimley High Street on 22nd December 2022. There were around 16 attendees playing casual chess, followed by a food and then more chess.
Thanks to Kim Shek and his staff for their hospitality.
The evening was rounded off with a few drinks at the White Hart.
A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year to all Camberley Chess Club members and supporters.
The club’s anti-Covid measures include preferred use of hand sanitizer upon entry to the church and preferred wearing of face coverings. The aim of these measures is to make all attendees feel as safe as possible. The committee will continue to monitor Covid developments and will adjust these measures if and when appropriate.
We meet Over The Board every Thursday evening 7:30pm from 21st October 2021 to 28th April 2022 at Camberley Baptist Church, 15 Frimley Road, Camberley, GU15 3EN. Free parking is available close by off Sullivan Road, GU15 3AZ
Club members are invited to contribute items for discussion – talk through a game or a puzzle or anything else that you think will interest fellow members.
To automatically receive a Zoom link to this event, and all other future Zoom events this season, please become an Online Member on our Membership page.
