Hammel Cup
Awarded to the winner of the UCU Summer Tournament. Played through the summer months at the rate of one game per week, players play as often (or as little) as they want, but must play 10 games to be eligible for the prize-list. The tournament is normally hosted by Civil Service Chess Club at the Maynard Sinclair Pavilion on the Stormont estate, but was played at CIYMS, Belmont in 2002 and St Malachy's OB Club, North Belfast in 2009. From 2013 to 2017 the tournament was played at the Bankers' Club, Malone Road. before returning to its spiritual home in 2018.
- History of the Hammel Cup
- The Hammel Cup, or to give its full title "The Joseph Hammel Memorial Cup", was originally presented to the Belfast Chess Club in 1949 and was awarded to the winner of the club's annual Handicap tournament. That competition ended with the demise of the Belfast club in 1971. Thanks to the efforts of Alex Beckett, the Hammel Cup came into the possession of the UCU in 2002 with the intention that it would be awarded to the winner of the UCU Summer Tournament which Alex organised over a prolonged period. The previous winners of the tournament, which dated back to 1991, were inscribed on the Cup.
