Saturday, 2 May 2026

17th Mike Closs Memorial Tournament


Today brought the 17th Mike Closs Memorial Tournament, in honour of our late friend, teammate and colleague. It is rare for a memorial tournament to become an annual event instead of a single iteration, but the memory of Mike still burns very brightly and this series has always been entertaining and fun.

The new venue was Costa Coffee in Yarm, as part of our ongoing relationship with that very fine establishment. Thank you, Jolita!

This was the largest such event since 2012 and the first one since 2011 to enjoy the attendance of Mike's widow, Sandra, and Mike's son, Elliot, both of whom presented the trophy at the end of the morning.

Defending champion Kevin Winter, fresh from captaining one of the England senior teams in Albania, was joined by former champions Matt Jackman and Dave Baillie (the only person to have played in every event to date). Numerous players were making their debuts in this event, including several former Teesside junior stars.

The players were split into two groups and there was a random draw to determine the opening choices for each round, which were, of course, all Mike's favourites. Therefore, sharp (Blitz) games were guaranteed. The openings this time were the French Defence: Wing Gambit, Danish Gambit, French Defence: Milner Barry Gambit, Sicilian Wing Gambit and the Modern Benoni.











Group One Results 

Nick Webb, 5/5
Dominic Leigh, 4/5
Peter Harker, 3/5
David Collins, 2/5
Brian Whitaker, 1/5

Group Two Results

Matt Jackman, 4.5/5
Stephen Ollis, 4/5
Kevin Winter, 3/5
Dave Baillie, 2.5/5
Sean Cassidy, 1/5

The two group winners then contested the final and the chosen opening was the King's Indian Defence, with Nick playing White against Matt.

It was a great final, which kept the spectators enthralled from start to finish.

The one and only Catherine Lloyd joined us for the finale.


Matt won the exchange (rook for knight) early on and seemed to be in control of proceedings, but Nick somehow managed to achieve perfect coordination between his queen, rook and knight to produce a deadly attack. Matt, ever-resourceful, tried to return his extra material to nullify the attack, but Nick refused the offer and had the confidence to force his attack through to its natural conclusion.







Therefore, we have a new champion: The Great Nick Webb!
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