Bridge players are a superstitious bunch. And I don’t just mean the steps they take to prepare for matches — the lucky socks, the special pens, the insistence on sitting North or South. No, even once the game has begun, many rely on strange sayings and beliefs to help them decide how to play. Different
With the proliferation of modern opening theory and advances in knowledge of the game, I wonder sometimes if the kind of coruscating brilliance and originality that Mikhail Tal possessed will ever be seen again. Tal, the ‘Wizard of Riga’, was able to summon up lightning attacks from the most unpromising-looking positions. Last week we saw
In Competition No. 2940 you were invited to supply Dr Seuss’s take on the US presidential race. Given his taste for taking down bullies, tyrants and hypocrites, it seems unlikely that Theodor Geisel would have been a fan of the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, who, as might be expected, loomed large in your submissions.
One ‘unclued’ light, as the title suggests, can be paired (on one occasion twice) with each of the other unclued lights, (one of two words), all verifiable in Brewer. Alphabetical order takes priority in the unclued solution at 36A. Across 1 Builders’ aid marketed outside greasy spoon in Gabon (11) 7 Chap who’s
The unclued lights can be preceded by JACK. First prize Margaret Lusk, Preston, Lancs Runners-up P.D.H. Riddell, London SE23; Derek Willan, Gosport, Hants
White to play. This is from Karjakin-Nakamura, Fidé Candidates, Moscow 2016. Hikaru -Nakamura has just implemented an ingenious combination to win material, but he has not foreseen White’s counterattack. What has he missed? Answers via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk, by Tuesday 29 March. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of
