In one respect, it would be so much easier to play a game like poker or chess than bridge; if you play badly you only embarrass yourself – you don’t have partners or teammates to worry about. Mistakes at the bridge table are doubly painful when we imagine our partners rolling their eyes, or our
Ian Nepomniachtchi is back for more. The former world championship challenger left his rivals in the dust at the Candidates tournament in Madrid, seizing victory with a round to spare. So he will once again challenge Magnus Carlsen, in a world championship match slated for 2023. Or will he? A few weeks after beating Nepomniachtchi
White to play. J. Polgar-Carlsen, Casual blitz game, Madrid 2022. Carlsen’s last move 15…Ra8-c8 was a losing blunder. How did Judit Polgar exploit it? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 11 July. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and
In Competition No. 3256, you were invited to take a well-known poem and recast it as a short story. Ben Hale’s ‘The Cockney Amorist’ sent me back to the delights of John Betjeman’s debut album Banana Blush (dismissed by the poet himself as ‘a vulgar pop song record’ but a favourite of John Peel). An
11 Across (two words) suggests the other unclued lights, which are all one-word anagrams of words of a kind (one of two words). Across 1 More mawkish sot that is hugged by sister (8) 8 They may be catching insects (4) 12 Indian manager’s hesitation, in trouble (5) 14 Like a diplomat dancing one-step (7,
The perimetric names are NIJINSKY, NEVER SAY DIE, CREPELLO, THE MINSTREL, ROBERTO and TEENOSO, six of the nine Derby winners ridden by Lester Piggott who died on the 29th of May, the other three being ST PADDY (22), SIR IVOR (33) and EMPERY (4). DERBY (15) and LESTER (35) were to be shaded. First prize
