Friday Puzzle I drew a quiet game last night, but my team won and qualified to the Eastman Cup semifinals, where we will face a powerful club Below is a mate in two that looks game-like, but is a composition by John Keeble (1911). White to play! #chesspunks

Monday puzzle Busy day so this one should be solved quite quickly! White to play and mate in 2, by Grzegorz Jakubowski (1988) #chesspunks

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🇦🇷 Diego Flores wins 100th Argentine Championship 🏆 Congratulations 👏 GM Diego Flores emerged as the winner of the 2025 Argentine Championship, claiming his eighth national title. The champion scored an impressive 8.5/11 and was the only player to complete the event

First in the world to solve today's Advent of Chess! In a somewhat special day to me 😆

Won a bag of lollipops by guessing how many there were! 😂 And this is only half because I tied with someone else 🍭

Friday "puzzle" Just a question on style today. I won a league game last night, where I kept control even though I messed up the move order a little bit (my first time playing as white against the Tartakower!) I reached a winning endgame and I thought the next move was nice! 🤩

Monday Puzzle I was hoping to maybe play some tournament this month, but it looks like it will have to be some other time At least my birthday is getting close! White to play and mate in 2 by Holger Helledie (1971). Tricky one! #chesspunks

Friday Puzzle I haven't been online that much recently. Back to sharing one of these: A mate in 2 by Arthur Gooderson (1974), white to play! How long did it take you to find the solution? #chesspunks

I finally won a game last night, after a poor streak. I didn't play brilliantly either, but I took my chances and I'm happy I helped my team. I was hoping this position would be reached at one point. Black would be much better anyway, but I thought the tactical finish was cute.

Join us tonight for our guest speaker IM/WGM Jovanka Houska! She will give a lecture and then play a ~20 board simul against some of our members! So excited to have her! 📷: Maria Emelianova

Hammer 1 is currently leading the Middlesex League, but tonight we face the strong West London who might bring some titled players! We will broadcast the games live, keep an eye out for the link to be published here later We also have a Division 3 match, and a CLL match!

Four wins in four matches for our London League teams last night! Well done everybody!

Monday Puzzle Probably quite easy for most, but some funny patters show up on this one by Analotij Kirichenko (1991) White to play and mate in 2 #chesspunks

Meanwhile Alexei Shirov is visiting my country and playing in an Open tournament. In the first round he got paired against a guy called Svidler 😂 lichess.org/broadcast/xx... @polborta.bsky.social

Monday Puzzle I took a few photos of my new neighbourhood during the weekend. More on my instagram! Sharing a position by Fatyh Aitov (1970), where knowing some patterns will definitely help! White to play and mate in 2 #chesspunks

Friday Puzzle I returned to the board this week, not playing very well. Won one and lost one. Sharing a rather clever mate in 2 by Johannes Zukertort! (1869). Don't be fooled, this man knew how to play chess! #chesspunks

Got a bit lucky with a tactic 😊

Monday Puzzle I have a week off, and hope to return to the board and play some league matches for my club. Let's see how rusty I am! Here is a mate in 2 by H R Burkill (1897), with a nice key move. White to play #chesspunks

Friday puzzle I'm taking a week off so I'm racing to finish all my work today Below is a position by Renato di Vincenzi (1998), with a fairly expected but satisfying first move White to play and mate in 2 #chesspunks

Monday Puzzle Not particularly enjoying the weather lately, but the food has been good! Sharing a mate in 2 by Meindert Niemeijer (1963). Black's King is surrounded but how to finish off? #chesspunks

My win against Bodhana last year might already be the best result in my career!

Friday Puzzle No games for me this week, lots to do at work and a visit from my manager seemed to have been productive. Sharing a mate in 2 by D. Lamouroux (1890), which should not be so challenging! #chesspunks

Game analysis lecture last night by yours truly

Monday puzzle Busy day but taking a short break to post this! Plus later tonight I will analyse some internal games played by my clubmates at @hammerchess.bsky.social Below is a tricky mate in 2 by Rudolf Zangger (1902), can you solve it? #chesspunks

Friday Puzzle Very late at posting this, but I realised I never shared the news of my article being published on the ECF newsletter ChessMoves (back in June!). They were so kind to send me a printed copy as well Here's today's mate in 2, by Johann Berger (1886) #chesspunks

Monday puzzle Quite a lot of work to do this week, and probably next too. Unlikely I will play any matches but we'll see how things go Can you solve the below mate in 2? Not too hard once you see what needs to happen. By Emilio Battaglia (1996) #chesspunks

Friday Puzzle I didn't play this week due to a small logistical issue, but in any case I have been quite busy at work so it was probably for the best. Sharing the below position by Goran Forslund (1996), with some nice patterns. White to play and mate in 2 #chesspunks

Monday Puzzle Now that the League Season started again (see my last post), I can resume with these. Sharing a mate in 2 by Hermann Pollak (1897) It took me a little while to understand the position, but then the first move I looked at just worked! #chesspunks

I played the first game of the season for my club last night. I was nervous and had already lost to my opponent in the past, but I got a decent position with better development and a sudden chance to strike appeared, how did I win as White? #chesspunks My team won 5.5-0.5!

We have 20 more League games today plus a few extra rated ones! Hammersmith faces Hendon in 2 Middlesex League matches, and we have a Juniors vs Adults internal match! First team will be live here lichess.org/broadcast/ha...

Our first matches of the season are about to start! We have 30 players ready plus a few extra games on the side. Follow our Hammer 1 v 2 match on Lichess! lichess.org/broadcast/ha...

HammerSharks hanging out with the Candidates! 👌

Throwback to when my team won a prize at the 2024 Global Chess League, which we received from Kateryna Lagno!

Friday Puzzle A famous classic today, no hints or introduction needed White to play and mate in 2, by Sam Loyd (1877) #chesspunks

Monday Puzzle I'll share a mate in 3 this time. Not too difficult since Black has very few moves available! White to play and mate in 3, by Rudolf Goette #chesspunks

A full review of our Awards Night is out, now including the video analysis of the Game of the Season by @danielkingchess.bsky.social hammerchess.co.uk/game-of-the-... Many other players received prizes for their achievements: full list on the front page of our website!

Happy to have been picked as Player of the Season for my Club! It truly was a great season for me with +104 ECF rating and a score of 18.5/23 in League Matches (+16 =5 -2) And I got my award from GM King himself!

GM Daniel King is ready to show us the nominations for our Game of the Season award... and has selected a winner! Who will it be? 🤔 @danielkingchess.bsky.social

No Monday puzzle today, just a pic of my new neighbourhood 🤩

Glad to be a part of the best club of the year! ⚒️

We had a lecture about Forks with Gastón 🇦🇷, and a visit from GM Frode Urkedal 🇳🇴 who showed one of his games from the MindSports Swiss tournament We also displayed our Club of the Year award from the ECF! Can you solve the final study? Composed by Franz Sackmann (1909)

Monday Puzzle Had some nice steak on the weekend. Now getting ready to give a lecture at my club tonight - might have a GM in attendance, since there is a blitz tournament taking place at the same venue! Hope you can solve this mate in 2 by J Wartemberg (1993) #chesspunks

Friday puzzle Things look quiet at work but I still have a lot to do at my new home Sharing a mate in 2 by Edward Courtenay (1870). Just be a little careful... #chesspunks

Solution: 1. Kg4 0-0-0 2. Rc3# If a4 was white, it means black just moved either their king or rook and therefore cannot castle, so White can still mate in 2 with 1. Kg3 followed by 2. Rh8#

I read the other day that, prior to the 2024 World Championship Match in Singapore, the last time it had been hosted in SE Asia was in 1978 (Baguio of course) When it comes to the Olympiad, that same year was the last time it was held in Latin America. Time for it to go back?

Monday puzzle I've been slow with these posts due to moving to a new place, hope to eventually go back to posting 2x a week White to play and mate in 2, with a follow up question: what if the pawn was white? By Werner Speckmann (1962) #chesspunks

Nice day to remember I once played the now 9x British Champion Mickey Adams! 🏆👏

The ECF awards have been announced! Congratulations to all the winners. Read all about the winners at englishchess.org.uk/ecf-awards-2... Photos are of Club of the Year - Hammersmith and Small Club of the Year - Bracknell Chess Club (with the Mayor)

Monday Puzzle Preparing to move on Friday, little time for chess, but trying to solve this one might be enough training for the day. White to play and mate in 2, by Aleksandr Galickij (1892) How long did it take you to find it? #chesspunks