I’ve been waiting for what feels like decades to make a contract by means of an intra-finesse. And not just because I love the name. When I first read about the manoeuvre, my mind was blown away in the same way it was when I first encountered squeeze-plays: ‘impossible’ games could be made! The trouble
Every time I type out Candidates Tournament, I want to adorn it with an apostrophe, as with Parents’ Evening or Residents’ Association. Hear me out: Women’s Tournament sounds natural whereas Women Tournament sounds clumsy; the word is possessive rather than attributive. Be that as it may, the prevailing wind has swept the apostrophe away. Anyway,
Black to play. Abdusattorov-Praggnanandhaa, Prague Masters, March 2024. White has a rook for a knight. Which move allowed Black to turn the tables and gain a decisive advantage? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 15 April. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal
In Competition No. 3344 you were invited to submit a poem expressing feelings – positive or negative – about a poetic form. The standard was impressively high, with near-misses for Max Ross, Sylvia Fairley and David Silverman, whose entry ended by rendering Paradise Lost in a single haiku (‘Angel turns nasty/ Temptation in the garden/
The unclued lights (three pairs and two individually and two of which are of two words) are now of a kind. Across 1 Spice rack item revealed by horse and page (3,4) 11 Plenty of space, we’re told, for nursing with a head cold (6) 12 Deserts featuring brown palms (7) 14 Nasty
The unclued lights were the cooks known as the TWO FAT LADIES at 18/2 who were 25/8 and 29A/38/3) and the HAIRY BIKERS at 14/3 who are/were 31 and ‘In memoriam’ 26/10. First prize R.A. Percy, Southport, North Carolina, USA Runners-up Peter Tanner, Hertford; James Bristol, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire
