Most of us play bridge with slight tunnel vision; we focus on our own cards, and those in dummy. Experts manage to split their screen, as it were, and see all four hands at the same time. I was reminded of this the other day, when playing with Barry Myers in the London pairs. I
The Alekhine Memorial split between Paris and St Petersburg has been won jointly by Lev Aronian and Boris Gelfand. The final scores (out of 9) were as follows: Aronian and Gelfand 51/2; Anand 5; Vitiugov, Fressinet, Kramnik, Adams and Vachier-Lagrave 41/2; Ding Liren 31/2 and Svidler 3. Britain’s Michael Adams got off to a blazing
In Competition No. 2796 you were invited to submit a poem about a minor ailment written by a hypochondriac. Brian Dillon, in his book Tormented Hope: Nine Hypochondriac Lives, gives a vivid description of the hypochondriac’s mental and emotional landscape: ‘You listen constantly, in a kind of trance, for communications from your body; it is
Each of sixteen clues comprises a definition part and a hidden consecutive jumble of the answer including one extra letter; the extras spell two words. Solvers who refer to Chambers will find, in the definitions of these words, a word that describes each of the unclued lights. This word, concealed in the grid, must be
Unclued lights were winners of the NOBEL PRIZE (11A) for literature and their works. Each work contained a colour in the title, explaining how to shade the answer: MY NAME IS RED (1D); THE GOLDEN NOTEBOOK (19D); THE GREAT GOD BROWN (15D); THE GREEN HOUSE (35D). First prize Jamie Staveley, London SW15 Runners-up Clare
Black to play. This is from Kramnik-Fressinet, Alekhine Memorial 2013, a variation from a sensational win by the French grandmaster. Two pieces down, how does Black continue? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 14 May or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The winner will be the first
