Last week I got an email from one of my readers — the other one is possibly away for the summer. His name was Paddy and he wrote as follows: ‘Dear Janet, I love your column [I warmed to him immediately] but I have been rather confused lately. I’m not a good player, and I
I am sure I have posed more questions to the chess engine Stockfish than to any living being. I love the instant gratification: you give it a chess position and it gives you an answer: the best move and an evaluation measured in hundredths of a pawn, like +1 24. Leave it alone, it will
White to play. Stockfish–Leela Chess Zero, TCEC 18, Game 92, July 2020. It looks hard to make progress, despite the far advanced pawns. What was Stockfish’s winning move? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 3 August. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include
In Competition No. 3159 you were invited to supply a poem that does not contain the letter ‘e’. This fiendish challenge was a nod to Georges Perec’s ‘e’-less tour de force La Disparition (protagonist: A. Vowl), which was subsequently translated, also without the letter ‘e’, by the heroic Gilbert Adair. Perec, who once composed a
Eighteen clues contain deficient wordplay, the missing elements of which, when highlighted, confirm the theme. Across 1 Party with a previously haughty man (6) 6 Waste disposal initially declined (7) 11 Small braces (4) 12 Dog has a drink outside well (5, 4) 13 Boozer hugging a member’s tree (5, 3) 14 Old coins from
Unclued lights are Brewer’s ‘Chambersisms’ — words from that dictionary with quirky definitions. First prize Maureen Quarmby, Oldham Runners-up M. & T. Taylor, Waterthorpe, Sheffield; Peter and Jeannie Chamberlain, Rushden, Northants
