Puzzles & games

Bridge

Bridge | 09 September 2023

The Bermuda Bowl, the most prestigious bridge World Championship, ended last weekend with a riveting final between Switzerland and Norway. Congratulations to Pierre Zimmermann’s team of ‘Swiss’ players: Michal Nowosadzki, Jacek Kalita and Michal Klukowski, Sjoert Brink and Bas Drijver. You would be quite right in thinking they don’t sound very Swiss, but hey –

Chess

Norm score

‘How do you become a grandmaster?’    ‘You must climb the mountain, and defeat the opponent at the top.’ Alas, the answer is not nearly so succinct, and when I get asked the question, I remind myself to spare the finer details. The gist is that you must outperform an ‘average’ grandmaster over the course

Chess puzzle

No. 768

Black to play. Wall-Raczek, Northumbria Masters 2023. Black’s next move brought the game to a swift close. What did he play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 11 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

Competition

Crossword

2621: Faux

You can calculate 48 by 1 + 47 (ten words in total). However, 21 32 12 23 47 (nine words in total). The remaining unclued lights are the two authors who said so.         Across 14    Not so sure judge needs latitude to be good (6) 17    Sacred halls rebuilt in poor area (7) 18   

Crossword solution

2618: Chain gang – solution

Adjacent pairs in the ordered chain of unclued entries [38] CHAIR, [14] MAN, [25] POWER, [15] STATION, [10] MASTER, [40] KEY, [8] RING, [29] FINGER, [36] POST, [44] CARD and [17] BOARD form single words in their own right. First prize Andy Wallace, Ash Green, Coventry Runners-up Jonathan Jones, Oxford; Elizabeth Duff, London NW5