4th Mike Closs Memorial Tournament
This year's memorial event, in honour of our dear friend Mike Closs, featured four of Teesside's top players in a quadruple round-robin blitz tournament. At five minutes per player per game, the action was fast and furious.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg03MC0R9nwOFhelsTQ3WwUdvoT3UNkAePKLjLR61ongZddavKSiIm6sYX4v8LetZD9IktYeOYry-0dbKpZ_GKu7Io5DRX0D6IdwRmnm-_x0qQvVTLsJLCNHyXXZAC7u20hGEqgH8_uYbg/s320/DSCF9028.JPG) |
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David Wise got off to a flying start, beating defending champion Julian Allinson 2-0 at the start of the event.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-MhR4m3xxRGC-E__ZtPUDGCVKpYQUplRaGA8xC6dJEFQUt5kZ9_UAaVnpV1m47gn0UkaiWUFRhfzpEaIaw2b56Igg1OM2HAgPVyFEZdEPK-epczT_9XDMNRVomo5M9k5Ers-xUsl4pHg/s320/DSCF9031.JPG) |
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Indeed, David was on terrific form and he stormed to an excellent score of 6/6 after the first cycle of matches.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvN3oF0_wIb-Lhmy2R-E7k85zURk0BvKDZvL0dKgjmYJoUOTtXk-jguoNEau7Y1xmrSQ7VJ04xN5DHeYW2cDHxtQpeNmty9sBim078FOGGb0EfGpOrV4dDLOeV_pmyH2QcdrtCK6Nixc/s320/DSCF9032.JPG) |
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Scores after the first cycle:
David Wise 6/6
Julian Allinson 4/6
David Baillie, John Garnett 1/6
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2-4qyKi1QkVL02y-NeKTSQPt6cKk-AnFaAsEeAcv9W6T8t4XVEfrsN81tPhyphenhyphencPPyqIqsuS9igiDjgKyMZYqypI-d7AZHRPCJoIJqDtDRsAxYT8xjCKSV8lC_1e96dVoJw8zdVfrLDm5w/s320/DSCF9044.JPG) |
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Julian put himself back in the title race with a victory over David Wise at the start of the second cycle of matches, with a brilliant exchange sacrifice proving decisive. However, David still held a half-point advantage as the tournament moved into the final stages.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXdsYs9yVM-qXH3L_AxEiAzN36rS-QUAdryVeutuxVVQMAnrtd56r4h1a9nzyRkXoybn48Ds97QKLn3oJVYvDMmHxuXy1hNVnD7rk9XCk3PHQYfACUzbLr3he2JZ0YHGPoEwiF2_-TXhw/s320/DSCF9046.JPG) |
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Meanwhile, David Baillie and John Garnett were playing fighting chess in every game, absolutely worthy of the occasion. I was impressed by David's kingside pawn structure in the following position...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV2CEoYaWgYYsuIsCiO_9Mk4D5nZbCDEQzeNzp9_TraMyEpmoM9vFBHw8CXZpc6kr6F60uKYYn2f-KvQxKzEJPXONeEcs_GxzvgG_It-W7Pw8p1asiRdic7yNwioRUqaHjocI1kStiBDM/s320/DSCF9050.JPG) |
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...although John, with the white pieces, went on to win that game.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEnkNRTo41dOf2gD6CdEOO6Sd-ce4IEjgnQnfr6gtnyvKbXeUE217nO7MBZXrPv7GZtH65ddcxusHFqmOL8epPwEhXldZlk4CrIrPSCRv0kYTITwrf22dhyphenhyphentDANU9E3vK9RDAsaXCD6e8/s320/DSCF9055.JPG) |
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![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXIqGCli1f5wPNLTufdXhh9aoVFM4oqg6KMkzjs8dbcxVrM-6Ssf-GPhu5OyXJceTAmyj3rbVgAjUy_aNkzVrXXuU0sWNE9X6Gwi3UGx2x5SNhc1jO3Q93WgKIS5xxND7b5OzgXkQJjpo/s320/DSCF9056.JPG) |
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Despite the ferocity of the battles, the players kept on great terms!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcH0nVYPPRWoyfNtrR3HroRF-YifKREn686oFHx6YcXKKBKguK_R_L_PUtBNW4mAOHpaI2M26iyATz2BPY5bhzlnvKKZjBEbIN8dPLGViT-gkAHbiWhQwMi2ccOcMUdY4r2W17JkrTrYE/s320/DSCF9060.JPG) |
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There were only two draws out of all the games played. We saw at least one entertaining checkmate pattern.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdtuSL01P3l86hFz1G4fu000klw6Fp2zPFPGh6pZAtrVAML5SYqoN12ix24PtNNRbkioAr7rGnq7gEbDlhyphenhypheneVTvyTYpw0Q1nYhClccYbrDZISz6Ch2sOOReZX_GKDaTq1zKSe7dPmRFc/s320/DSCF9069.JPG) |
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David Baillie played one of the best games of the day to defeat David Wise in the penultimate round and John Garnett held David to a draw in one of the games from the final round. That all left Julian with a great chance of winning the tournament, but he had to beat David Baillie 2-0 to do it. After two more fighting games, Julian emerged as champion again.
Final scores:
Julian Allinson 9.5/12
David Wise 9/12
David Baillie 3/12
John Garnett 2.5/12
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-1m9zddGHTo12Pd3H12UMad0xHmH8w4BBKmSM4KxnTUT3jk_IT8LVifnSaJPn0VFbYY3B22zUgIXUYfwS3SWbccCOaIJtMz3DurXPMbAAChLApwDsdH1Ji3Qoticqz5765Cb8vHvFXm4/s320/DSCF9071.JPG) |
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So Julian completed a remarkable comeback and took the title for the third time!
Reports from previous events
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