The famous exchange between Sherlock Holmes and Inspector Gregory of Scotland Yard in Arthur Conan Doyle’s short story ‘The Adventure of Silver Blaze’ will resonate with all good bridge players. Gregory: ‘Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?’ Holmes: ‘To the curious incident of the dog in the
Polishing an opening repertoire is essential for top chess players, who must have variations prepared to meet all the standard openings. Those may be selected on grounds of stylistic appeal or rarity, hoping to catch an opponent off-guard. There are standard responses in turn, and a well-prepared player will have counter-ideas locked and loaded. Vast
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Dmitry Vasilevich Klark, La Stratégie, 1868. Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 9 September. 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
In Competition 3365 you were invited to submit an extract from a PhD about an aspect of street culture. Obviously this was inspired by Rachael Gunn, aka Raygun, the Australian academic/Olympic break-dancer who wrote a PhD on the cultural politics of breakdancing. This intro has to be short to make room for all the long
The unclued lights (one of three words and two of two words), individually and one pair, can be verified in conjunction with the same headword in Brewer. Across 10 Where to find H or C readily available (2,3) 11 Rashford without minute deposit on the cornea (5) 13 Gold miners circling Lochnagar, say (5)
The unclued lights are SATELLITES of planets, listed on page 1860 of Chambers 13th Edition. First prize Mark Richardson, Exeter Runners-up Steven Lodge, Bridgwater, Somerset; Amanda Spielman, London SW4
