Puzzles & games

Bridge

Bridge | 28 January 2023

Susanna and I are very pleased to announce we have a Fan! His name is Tony Graham and he edits the newsletter for the Oban Bridge Club. In his email he says: ‘Of all the bridge columns I read weekly [insert all the top names], yours are the ones I enjoy the most and find

Chess

The next world championship

Fide’s clock was ticking, and their position looked difficult. But at last they have made their move, announcing that the next world championship match will take place in Astana, Kazakhstan with a €2 million prize fund, beginning on 7 April. Two factors explain the delay. One was Magnus Carlsen’s abdication, announced in July last year. Ding Liren

Chess puzzle

No. 736

White to play. Bibisara Assaubayeva-Rakshitta Ravi, Delhi 2019. Assaubayeva is down a bishop for two pawns, but she had aimed for this position, foreseeing a knockout blow. Which move did she play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 30 January. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat.

Competition

Spectator competition winners: A peer’s lament

In Competition No. 3283, you were invited to submit ‘A Peer’s Lament’. There was a smattering of references to Baroness Mone, whose travails prompted this challenge. But of course members of the Upper House have plenty to worry about besides, as winningly detailed in a lively and varied entry that contained echoes ranging from Poe,

Crossword

2589: Oddly stumps out

The unclued lights (one of two words, two singletons and four pairs) are of a kind in green. Across 1 Fair blood relation in awful surroundings hardly seen (4,7) 7 Equipment for Bell, Athey and Trescothick initially (3) 13 Light US railroad truck is a timeless barrow boy’s truck (7) 15 Head of Government in

Crossword solution

Solution to 2586: Inst

The unclued lights start with the trio JAN, the abbreviation for JANUARY which is ‘this month’ or ‘INST’, the puzzle’s title. First prize Thomas Williamson, Moygashel, Dungannon Runners-up Susan Bell, Reeth, N. Yorks; Richard Thorpe, Burntwood, Staffs