Puzzles & games

Chess

Imminent disaster

Mistakes in chess come in pairs. Last month, and not for the first time, that nugget of wisdom thumped me on the nose. Representing England at the Olympiad in Budapest, my game against Luca Moroni was proceeding rather pleasantly. It was clear the Italian grandmaster had underestimated my sacrifice of rook for bishop in the

Chess puzzle

No. 821

White to play. Ciolacu-Khotenashvili, Fide Women’s Olympiad, Budapest, September 2024. How did White crown her kingside attack? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 7 October. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for prize delivery. Last week’s solution

Competition

Spectator Competition: Smalls miracle

In Comp 3369 you were invited to write about the recent underwear storm of Chongqing, or some other freak event, as if it had happened centuries ago and become legend. The entries were wonderfully imaginative, though they dangled some grim visions of the future. It pains me not to squeeze in David Silverman’s poem, so

Crossword

2674: New crop

7D (two words), performed by 40A (two words), suggests the other unclued lights, which are all similarly amended forms of words of a kind. A final ‘7D’, itself a thematically appropriate word, must be highlighted in the final grid. Across 1               Actor, you said, departed with a hook (8) 8               Young bird from e.g. Spain

Crossword solution

2671: Canned madras – solution

Nine unclued lights have been seen on STAGE (35): THE RIVALS (4A), ELECTRA (27), THE BIRDS (29), ALL MY SONS (39), LYSISTRATA (1D), BECKET (3), NO MAN’S LAND (19), ORESTES (26) and ST JOAN (30) (‘Saint Joan’ in short form). RHINO (33) (‘Rhinoceros’ in short form) is to be shaded. First prize Mydrim Jones, London