IM John Hawksworth won the 20th edition of the monthly blitz at All Saints church in Kingston on 29 April 2026 scoring a perfect 6/6, with Chris Briscoe and Jasper Tambini second and third
Class will always out and so it proved in the 20th edition of the All Saints Blitz. With 10-times winner Peter Large on his way back from playing for England in the Fide World Senior Team Championships in Albania, fellow IM John Hawksworth scooped the monthly prize with a faultless display which earned him six wins from six games.
John is always very modest and said he expected “normal service to be resumed next month” with Peter Large likely to be back in action, but this was a tremendous display. Having disposed of my dubious Smith-Morra Gambit in round one, he beat a succession of strong players – David Rowson, Tom Mayers, Jasper Tambini, Chris Briscoe and Epsom president Marcus Gosling. Four of those players are 2000 ECF strength or above, and Tom is rising fast.
John’s reward for winning the tournament was a copy of The Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games, a special prize to mark the 20th edition of the monthly All Saints Blitz. He was presented with the book (plus the obligatory bar of chocolate) by visiting Kingston luminary and FM Vladimir Li (see photograph above, with John on the left).
Chris Briscoe, who is always in the frame, was second with 5/6 and Jasper Tambini – a strong and enthusiastic blitz player – third with 4.5/6. Then came several seasoned club players on 4/6, but special mention should be made of Dominic Fogg, who belied his rating of 1612 with a strong performance to also finish with 4/6. Commendations, too, to John Hawes and David Shalom for excellent showings. John, in particular, played startlingly well for a relative newcomer in beating three strong players.
All in all, another memorable All Saints Blitz. We do it all again on Wednesday 27 May, with our Albanian absentees – past winner Tony Hughes was also in Albania, playing for Wales, as was Alan Scrimgour representing Scotland – likely to return to make the field even stronger.
Stephen Moss is Kingston Chess Club captain
Final standings
1: John Hawksworth (Kingston) 6/6
2: Chris Briscoe (Surbiton) 5/6
3: Jasper Tambini (Kingston) 4.5/6
4-7: Dominic Fogg, Marcus Gosling, Graham Keane, David Rowson 4/6
Full results