Puzzles & games

Bridge

Bridge | 25 June 2022

At a bridge tournament about 15 years ago, I started chatting to a friendly, eccentric woman in her mid-sixties, wearing a sequined baseball cap. I had no idea who she was, but when she told me her name, I knew at once: the well-regarded bridge columnist of the Independent. What I hadn’t realised was that

Chess

Cream of the Candidates

The Candidates tournament is underway in Madrid, where eight of the world’s best players vie for the right to challenge Magnus Carlsen in the World Championship. As the event began, Carlsen gave his judgment on each player’s prospects, dividing them into three tiers. Tier 1: Fabiano Caruana and Ding Liren are ‘the best and most

Chess puzzle

No. 708

White to play. Rezasade-Movsesian, Bundesliga 2022. White was an underdog in this game, but found a subtle winning idea. What did he play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 27 June. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow

Competition

Crossword

2561: PORTS

Six unclued entries comprise systematically ordered non-words thematically linked by a normal entry, itself unclued.   Across 1 Awaiting consideration, poor hippie teen holding nothing back (2,3,8) 11 Most of back pain almost leaves (7) 12 Some over-50s right about Hindu music? (5) 14 Small section of foreign letter penned by French novelist (6) 16

Crossword solution

2558: Blonde, 78 – solution

Unclued lights were associated with JUBILEE: years (CALENDAR, SCHOOL, FINANCIAL), clips (CROCODILE,PAPER, TIE) and London underground lines (CENTRAL, CIRCLE, NORTHERN). The title suggested PLATINUM (element 78, and type of blonde). First prize Brian Midgley, Shipston on Stour, Warwickshire Runners-up Arabella Woodrow, Riddlesden, West Yorks; Andrew Vernalls, Milton Common, Oxfordshire