Former Players

Name: Mike Closs
Years: 2007-2010
Mike Closs was a great player and he was the last one to express an interest in playing for the club in our first season. We went through most of that first summer thinking that we weren't going to have sufficient numbers to enter a team, then suddenly Mike said he would like to join us. What a find he was! Mike helped Thornaby get promoted twice in our first 2 seasons and he was the Cleveland Individual Champion in 2008, 2009 and 2010. We were a little embarrassed to play in the C division and B division with such a strong player! Mike was also Thornaby club champion in 2009 and 2010. Towards the end of the 2009/10 season, the club were hit with the tragic news of the sudden passing of Mike. A player of Mike's strength and the great character he was made him irreplaceable, but the club kept going through the adversity.

Name: Paul Douglass
Years: 2007-2019
Paul was an original member of Thornaby chess club and played for the team for several years helping the team to get promoted to the A division in our first 2 seasons. Paul was also joint club champion in 2015.

Name: Ray Honeybourne
Years: 2011-2019
Ray is a former chairman of Thornaby Chess club who played in the Cleveland League for us from 2011. Ray was the Thornaby club champion in 2012.

Name: Ernie Lazenby
Years: 2008-2017
Ernie is a former CCA President as well as a former Thornaby player.

Name: Tom Marwood
Years: 2023-2024
Tom must have set some kind of club record when he made his team debut for Thornaby 1 day after his first visit to the club! Tom had played a lot online and unlike some of our players who come from this route seemed to transfer that skill to over the board chess straight away. He won his first 2 league games and continued to play well all season, eventually making his debut for the Aces in the final game of the 23/24 season. Sadly, Tom found chess a little all-consuming and has decided not to play this season. We all hope he'll be back soon!

Name: Dave Richardson
Years: 2017-2021
Dave was a great tactical player and a regular for the A team while he was here and also served as club chairman for 2 years.

Name: Norman Stephenson
Years: 2011-2017
Norman is a former Thornaby player who is also a former Cleveland Individual Champion.

Name: Brad Werritt
Years: 2022-2023
Brad was one of our players who started online during lockdown. He had played over 10,000 games on chess.com before he first played live in our club and this experience quickly showed when he made the semi finals of one of our club rapidplay events in his first few weeks coming. Brad was undoubtedly the fittest player in Thornaby Chess Club! There was a certain amount of disbelief in the room soon after he joined when he left our club night at 9pm to go to the gym! Brad had a really good season at the club finishing with a rating of over 1600, but then unfortunately he moved away from the area for his work as a junior doctor in 2023.

Name: Brian Whitaker
Years: 2007-2021
Brian is a stalwart of the Thornaby club. He was one of the 2 original founders of the club and has served on the club committee or as a team captain for most of the years he played here. He was also a joint winner of the individual Cleveland Minor Trophy in 2017. Brian was also our first club champion back in 2008.

Name: David Wise
Years: 2011-2017
David is a former Thornaby player who previously won the Cleveland Individual Championship in 2005. He was our top player throughout his years at Thornaby and he holds our club record for the most board 1 appearances for our A team with 64. David was Thornaby Club Champion in 2016.