I’m not surprised so many scientific studies have shown that bridge staves off dementia: the game provides a constant workout for the memory. It usually takes people years before they can recall how many cards have been played in each suit — and not just how many, but which ones. Honours are easier to keep
The rule of thumb for weighing up piece exchanges says that pawns are worth one, knights and bishops three, rooks five and queens nine. It is such a useful guideline that one can go a long way without ever questioning it, but strong players have a feeling for the limitations. The first diagram shows a
White to play, Jones–Dominguez, New in Chess Classic, April 2021. Gawain Jones was hoping that his rook and pawn would cordon off Black’s king indefinitely. But here, at move 125, a surprising opportunity arose. What move should White have played? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 17 May. There is a prize of £20 for
In Competition No. 3198, you were invited to supply an extract from a children’s book that is designed to explain economics to youngsters. The seed for this challenge was former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis’s Talking to My Daughter: A Brief History of Capitalism in which he uses the device of answering questions put by
Ten unclued lights (including four pairs) are of a kind. Ignore two hyphens and an apostrophe. What could have induced this puzzle will appear diagonally in the completed grid and must be shaded. Across 1 Eminent composer gives great cellist inspiration (7) 9 Sin doesn’t start somewhere in church (4) 12 Piece of lead turned
The traditional county towns were Chester (misprinted as CHEATER: 27), Durham (DERHAM: 21), Derby (DERRY: 32), Lewes (LENES: 36), Reading (RENDING: 28) and York (WORK: 8). The correct letters could give SUBWAY (26), examples of which are UNDERGROUND (1A), TUNNEL (17) and METRO (22A). Title: ‘Appleby’ misprinted. First prize Julie Sanders, Bishops Waltham, Hants Runners-up
