We all know how important it is to stop and think when defending a hand. There’s just one problem with that advice: sometimes it’s equally important not to stop and think. Every hesitation gives something away — and although it often doesn’t cost you anything, it can prove fatal. I regularly find myself having to
Before leaving the topic of the 50th anniversary of the 1967 tournament to mark the half-century of the Russian revolution, I must mention the Hungarian grandmaster Lajos Portisch, another hero of that prestigious competition. (Leonid Stein being the overall winner.) Portisch was famed for his immense hard work and profound erudition in the openings. At Moscow he
In Competition No. 2991 you were invited to submit ‘The Rime of the Wedding Guest’. There were, naturally, lots of clever nods in the entry to Coleridge’s ballad of sin and atonement, but some were more charitable than others to the gimlet-eyed seadog with verbal diarrhoea. In a hotly contested week, Brian Allgar, Chris
The same 26 appears six times in 1D. Remaining unclued lights exemplify its different meanings. The 26 will appear diagonally in the completed grid and must be shaded. Across 7 Chief cycling daily (4) 11 Young man has time for special author (5) 12 Food Victor feeds forces (6) 13 A road alongside hill
Unclued lights (in red) are the characteristics of ‘the period’, from the opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities. The highlighted words are part of the same quote, appropriately occupying the first line of the grid. First prize R. Snailham, Windsor, Berkshire Runners-up M. Threasher, Winscombe, Somerset; Ben Stephenson, London SW12
White to play. This position is a variation from Portisch-Petrosian, Moscow 1967. Can you spot White’s winning coup? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 11 April 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
