YAY! We won the Gold Cup! We played Tim Leslie’s strong team in the 64-board final and beat them on the last eight board set. We were awesome — and I can say that because unfortunately I couldn’t play a single board in the semi-final or final. Result! Pushing hard to thin games (if you
I don’t like losing at chess. It feels bad in the moment, whether my position subsides like a failed pudding, or crashes like a severed tree. It feels bad right afterwards too, staring at a big fat zero on the scorecard. But worst of all is the lingering knot of disgust, because usually one’s mistakes
White to play. Bjerre–Maiwald, Bundesliga 2021. Black has menacing counterplay, so White’s attack needs an accurate conclusion. What did he play next? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 25 October. 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. 3221, you were invited to submit an ode on the Marble Arch Mound. The 25 metre-high artificial hillock, dubbed ‘Teletubby Hill’, has drawn near universal mockery and derision, leaving Westminster City Council red-faced and poorer to the tune of £6 million. But it inspired a funny, imaginative entry, with a strong whiff
The unclued lights (five of two words which include three apostrophes) can be preceded by the same word, all confirmed in Chambers and/or Brewer. Across 11 A record bill, getting a pack animal (6) 12 Earthling beginning to excavate rock formation (7) 14 What contains oxygen and is able to girdle the Earth? (5) 15
The unclued lights are preceded by ALL (with the title suggesting that ALL is to be omitted). The paired lights are 6/19 and 9/30. First prize Guy Taylor, London EC1 Runners-up Tony Alers-Hankey, London W4; Arabella Woodrow, Riddlesden, W. Yorks
