Two of the best (and most enjoyable) Pairs and Teams tournaments of the year have just finished, and I miss them already. Iceland Air’s Reykjavik Bridge Festival, where my teammates Thor-Erik Hoftaniska and Espen Erichsen won the Pairs, and immediately following it, Pierre Zimmermann’s Cavendish Monaco. The Cavendish Teams was won by the French foursome
The former world champion Vladimir Kramnik recently announced his retirement from competitive chess. He is one of the greats of the modern game, winning three World Championship contests — against Garry Kasparov, Peter Leko and Veselin Topalov — and retaining the title from 2000 to 2007. This tenure puts him on a par with other champions such as José Capablanca,
In Competition No. 3085 you were invited to submit a poem in dispraise of Valentine’s Day. The day is said to have its roots in the Roman pagan festival of Lupercalia. But one scholar has proposed the theory that it was Chaucer who first designated 14 February as a day of love in his poem
The seven clues below have to be interpreted cryptically and are then entered in the grid where they will fit. (In 10 Down, alphabetical order takes precedence in one unchecked letter.) AL (12, two words) EARTH (10) IF (7) L (9, three words) RI (11, three words) STEW (8, two words) WAND (5, two words)
The unclued lights (10/1D, 11, 23/38, 29D/28 and 39) received knighthoods or a DBE in the recent New Year’s Honours List. First prize Chris Warburton, Dagenham, Essex Runners-up Peter Hampton, Wimborne, Dorset; Pam Dunn, Sevenoaks, Kent
Black to play. This position is from Gelfand–Kramnik, Berlin 1996. This is one of Kramnik’s finest finishes. Can you spot his amazing winning move? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 19 February or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please
