Most of us have lost a year and a bit, but hopefully we will get back to normal (bridgewise) fairly quickly. Spare a thought, though, for the juniors, who have lost out on a World Championship that can never be recovered for those who will be too old when the next one comes around in
Two years ago, the brilliant young Polish player Jan-Krzysztof Duda made a baffling decision. In the second game of his knockout match with Wesley So at the Moscow Grand Prix, Duda needed just a draw to advance to the next round, having won the first game with remarkable ease. Perhaps he was mindful that when
White to play. Abdusattorov–Durarbayli, Sochi 2021. The endgame looks tricky, but White found a way to force a quick mate. What did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 16 August. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six
In Competition No. 3211 you were invited to submit a nursery rhyme inspired by the pandemic. When I set this challenge, I had in mind ‘Ring-a-Ring o’ Roses’, the rhyme that is said by some to date from the Great Plague of 1665 (though its origins are a subject of hot scholarly dispute). In a
One clued solution can precede each unclued light (four of two words and one of three), all to be found in Chambers, Brewer, songs or sayings. Across 9 Come to as Polyphemus would do? (10, three words) 14 Queen perhaps delaying introduction of legislation (3) 16 Amongst others, some retaliate (6, two words) 20
The unclued lights are the nouns from the opening sentence of The Tailor of Gloucester by Beatrix Potter. TAFFETA was extracted from (T)ISSUE, TULIP(A), (F)AILS, (F)REEST, EQUIP(E)S and NO(TA)TION. First prize Robert Stephens, Bearsted, Kent Runners-up R. Dickinson, Lewes, East Sussex; Alan Norman, Impington, Cambridge
