It’s so much easier to play bridge well when luck is on your side. You’ve just doubled your opponents and collected a huge penalty, or made a grand slam on a finesse — and suddenly you start playing like Helgemo, with sharpened wits and perfect judgment. Luck breeds luck, and you don’t have to be
It is one of life’s comforts to see a forgotten trinket being dusted off and appreciated afresh. So in chess, I am gently heartened to see a chess opening pass through that same phase of life. The game has its share of magpies, for whom a shiny new opening gambit is irresistible. Their approach has
Mastrovasilis–Marechal, Cappelle la Grande 2011. Black is a whole rook up, so his last move 34… Nd5-e7, angling for an exchange of knights, looks plausible. Which move did White play to expose a hidden flaw? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 11 January. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct
In Competition No. 3180 you were invited to submit a Belloc-esque cautionary tale featuring a high-profile public figure. Cautionary Tales for Children, published in 1907 and ‘designed for the admonition of children between the ages of eight and fourteen years’, featured such cruel and hideous comeuppances as being eaten, feet upwards, by a lion and
The unclued lights (one of two words), when paired, have something in common. Across 5 Fly eggs not at all good on head (6)9 Parasite, one not dead, by coincidence (10, two words)14 Stick one swears mildly by (3)16 A chant newly set Hebrew scripture (6)17 One worn by Virginia? Excellent (5)18 Squirted with water,
Unclued lights are nicknames of works by Beethoven, born 250 years ago. The title referred to the Ghost piano trio, Op. 70/1. First prize Carlos de Pommes, Walton on Thames, SurreyRunners-up R.P. Wright, Loughton, Essex; Damian Hassan, Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham
