History of the Hammel Cup
From the Minute Book of the Belfast Chess Club
“On the 11th April, 1949, at a ceremony in the club room, presided over by the President (Mr. Davies) a large Silver Cup for annual competition was presented to the Club by Mr. David Hammel (for his mother) in honour of his father..
Alpha [Rev. J.K.L. McKean – ed.], in seconding Mr. Davies’ proposal of a vote of thanks to Mr. Hammel, said we were happy to accept the gift of such a magnificent trophy. It would help us to keep green the memory of one whose aim was always the promotion of the game of chess, and the welfare of the Belfast Club.
Mr. G. Dunlop also spoke and said that he must place it on record, that it had been his experience of the late Mr. Hammel, that he had gone out of his way to help the less experienced players on every possible occasion. He had himself been invited to Mr. Hammel’s house on several occasions for practice games and advice.
The Cup was subsequently presented by the President to Mr. W.L. Brown, who by winning the Handicap Tournament, thus becomes the first holder of the new trophy.”
The inscription on the trophy is:
Belfast Chess Club
The Joseph Hammel Memorial Cup
Presented by Mrs J Hammel 1949
Winners of the Belfast CC Handicap 1949-1971
1949 - W.L. BROWN
1950 - B. McROBERTS
1951 - A.L. DAVIES
1952 - J.L. FINLAY
1953 - D.S. TICE
1954 - H. GRAHAM
1955 - J. MAGAURAN
1956 - H. GRAHAM
1957 - H. NELSON
1958 - W.E. MORTON
1959 - R.R. TURKINGTON
1960 - J. GIBSON
1961 - W.D. TAYLOR
1962 - J. ORR
1963 - D. BEATTIE
1964 - J.M. NEMTZOV
1965 - H. NELSON
1966 - W.E. MORTON
1967 - A. LONG
1968 - J.J. STRAWBRIDGE
1969 - A. COOTES
1970 - A. COOTES
1971 - J. MCGROGAN
When the Hammel Cup came into the possession of the Ulster Chess Union in 2002, it was decided to award it to the winner of the UCU Summer Tournament. The previous winners of the tournament, which dated back to 1991, were inscribed on the Cup.
Winners of the UCU Summer Tournament 1991-2009
1991 - C. O'SULLIVAN
1992 - R. DEVENNEY
1993 - J. NICHOLSON
1994 - G. LEWIS
1995 - I. CARTER
1996 - B. WALSHE
1997 - M. REDMAN
1998 - N. GREEN
1999 - S. SCANNELL
2000 - I. WOODFIELD
2001 - P. McLOUGHLIN
2002 - S. McCONAGHY
2003 - S. SCANNELL
2004 - A. SRINIVASAN
2005 - S. SCANNELL
2006 - S. SCANNELL
2007 - S. SCANNELL
2008 - S. SCANNELL
2009 – E. WALLS
2010 - S. SCANNELL
2011 - M. CHAPMAN
