I have great respect for top French bridge players but I think it’s fair to say they don’t go in for dazzling displays of bravado and brilliance; neither do they crash in disaster. They are great card players and great, straightforward bidders. Calmly and steadily they do their best on every hand and it really
The Australian grandmaster David Smerdon has written a truly exciting book about some of the byways in the Centre Counter or Scandinavian Defence. The old main lines started 1 e4 d5 exd5 Qxd5 3 Nc3 and generally condemned Black to a long defence. The apparent activity of the black queen tended to be outweighed by White’s
In Competition No. 2911 you were invited to submit a thriller in three text messages. This one seemed straightforward enough but it turned out to be a tough assignment that stretched veterans and newcomers alike. As in all forms of micro-fiction — the mini-masterpiece attributed to Hemingway, ‘For sale: baby shoes, never worn’, springs to
Four unclued lights (two of which consist of two words each) belong in the same category; one unclued light defines them. Remaining unclued lights are the surnames of their creators. Each of twenty-seven clues comprises a definition part and a hidden consecutive jumble of the answer including one extra letter; the extras are the unchecked
TOO-TOO is a HOMOPHONE (38) of TUTU (defined by 1A and 8, and the surname of 17, the former 11 of 25). The highlighted words, both starting at 22, combine to form a homophonous representation of the puzzle’s number. First prize Michael Grocott, Loughborough, Leics Runners-up Brenda Widger, Altrincham, Cheshire; F. Khaya, New South Wales,
Black to play. This position is from Kosmo-Smerdon, Goa 2002. Can you spot Black’s beautiful winning move? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 25 August or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The winner will be the first correct answer out of a hat, and each week there
