Large chess tournaments are usually played according to the ‘Swiss’ pairing system. In each round, players are grouped according to their total points amassed so far, and match-ups for the next round take place between players in the same score-group. Even in a large field of diverse abilities, the potential winners tend to encounter their
Black to play. Donchenko-Mishra, Fide Grand Swiss 2023. Abhimanyu Mishra, 14, was one of the youngest players in the field. Which move allowed him to capitalise on his passed b-pawn? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 13 November 2023. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please
In Competition No. 3324 you were in-vited to submit nonsense verse on an autumnal theme. W.J. Webster confessed that ‘sense kept breaking in’ to his entry, but the line between sense and nonsense is not always clear. As Anthony Burgess observed, in a review of Geoffrey Grigson’s Faber Anthology of Nonsense Verse, Mr Grigson ‘wisely
The 37 and 38 evoke 16D 22A/26, once 19 26, the 19 being 6 at the 41 5, 41 26 and 41 13. Across 1 Language school opened by Republican state (8) 11 Repeatedly check bones in historical operation (10) 14 Sweet red Dutch headwear (8) 16 US city king boxes to
The eight unclued answers are names which appear in Anthony Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire. First prize Pam Bealby, Stockton-on-Tees Runners-up Bill Ellison, Caversham, Reading; Peter Moody, Fareham, Hants
