The Norwegian Bridge Press Association’s annual prize for the best-played hand was a particularly hard-fought contest in 2018. Boye Brogeland and Geo Tislevoll (both Norwegian although Tislevoll now lives and plays in New Zealand) had already won the International Best Played and Best Defended titles, which made it likely that one of them would take
The start of the year sees the elite of the chess world divided between Wijk aan Zee in Holland and the Gibraltar Masters. In Gibraltar, from where I am writing this column, grandmasters such as Wesley So, Lev Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura cross swords with the British aspirants Michael Adams, Gawain Jones and Nigel Short.
In Competition No. 3083 you were invited to submit a poem or a short story that begins ‘It started with a tweet…’. Hats off to Philip Machin for an appropriately pithy submission: It started with a tweet — There’s nothing wrong in that — But, sadly, indiscreet: It ended with a cat. Elsewhere, in
1D (two words) 15 10 26 né 21 died on 2 February. Most famous for 7A 37 and 14, he was also in 1A (two words)’s 24. Doc writes: This year some new compilers are joining the team. Today we welcome La Jerezana. We hope that solvers will enjoy the challenges which our new
The theme word is GRASS (for which the title is a cryptic clue). 1A, 1D, 6 and 37 are informers; 28, 29, 33 and 39 are types of grass; 8A, 15, 22 and 26 are German Nobel literature laureates. First prize Mrs R.J.C. Shapland, Stanley Common, Derbyshire Runners-up John Renwick, Ramsgate, Kent; Taylor-Mansfield, Worcester
Black to play. This is from Howell-Bilguun, Gibraltar 2019. How can Black play for the win? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 5 February or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks
