Talk about Custer’s Last Stand. My poor old team has been knocked out of all this year’s main tournaments — the Gold Cup (I’m still reeling), Hubert Phillips, the Schapiro Spring Foursomes (worst performance ever) — which left Crockford’s the only competition left in which to qualify for the final. To do that we went
Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana will be contesting their World Championship match in London in November. As I mentioned last week, there is no better guide to the entire history of the World Championship than the extraordinary series by Garry Kasparov. He catalogues the best games of every champion, demonstrating how each one represents the
In Competition No. 3051 you were invited to supply an entry by a well-known diarist describing the wedding day of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. There was a bracingly waspish streak running through your contributions. Here’s Noël Coward’s verdict on the groom: ‘Massively butch but far too hairy, when he wasn’t even in the
The unclued lights are of a kind. Ignore all accents and diacritical marks throughout the puzzle. The fifth letter of each of the nine unclued lights reveal A BASS FUEL. Across 5 Garden flowers heard of by the congregations (6) 9 It’s sure to happen when Close is dropped from cable television broadcast (10)
The unclued lights can be preceded by BLUE which was hidden at the start of the third row and had to be highlighted in blue. BADGE at 15A is the theme word not listed in Brewer or Chambers as a ‘blue’ phrase. First prize Joy Verth, Newton Mearns, E. Renfrewshire Runners-up C.D. Dobbs, Carrickfergus,
Black to play. This is from Pillsbury-Lasker, St Petersburg 1895/96. Black has sacrificed two rooks for a bishop to drive the white king into the open. What is the correct move to conclude the attack? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 12 June or via email to victoria@spectator.-co.uk. There is a prize of £20 for
