10th Mike Closs Memorial Tournament - The Players

10th Mike Closs Memorial Tournament will take place next weekend and it is now time to reveal which players will be competing in this year's edition.

David Baillie

David, former County Champion and Redcar's best player for as long as anyone can remember, will continue his unique record of playing in all 10 Mike Closs Memorial events. David is one of only three former winners of the event and recently showed that even Grandmasters aren't immune from his attacking skill.

Richard Harris

Richard Harris, CSC Tutor and the current Durham Player of the Year, will be making his first appearance at this event since 2017. Richard, who seems to play more league games in a year than most people do in a decade, will bring a wealth of experience to the event. Last time, he brought some excellent blueberry muffins with him too. Just saying.

Matt Jackman

Matt, having returned to chess action comparatively recently, has already been stockpiling trophies and titles, including the CCA A Division and B Division titles and the KO Cup. Matt habitually reaches the finals of the main Project 30 events and I am sure it is only a matter time until he wins the Mike Closs Memorial event. Will it be this week?

Royce Parker

Royce, legendary captain of the highly successful Redcar B team, will be making his debut in the Mike Closs Memorial series. His highly original style of play will definitely bring something new to the event. For some reason I don't have a photograph of Royce in front of a chess board; looking at that dish, it appears to be more on the cheese board side of things. Will tournament success be on the menu at this event?

Me

I will be trying my best to keep those four fine players in order and stop them drinking all of my tea. I also need to try and stop them taking the title from me. There could be trouble brewing.