The Gold Cup Finals were played in London this year and proved to be very exciting but ultimately unsuccessful for my team. We played David Mossop’s squad on Friday in the quarter-finals and had a rather magical match where everything went our way and we won easily. Next day we played Simon Gillis’s band of
Last week I previewed the respective chances of world champion Magnus Carlsen and his challenger Sergey Karjakin for their forthcoming championship bout in New York. Now I take a look at what drives Magnus and what primarily distinguishes his approach to chess from that of his rival. Karjakin has a powerful, conventional style. Well versed in
In Competition No. 2971 you were invited to submit poems written by Jeremy Corbyn. The seven printed below take £20 apiece but oh, for more space: there were so many terrific entries. Honourable mentions go in particular to Brian Murdoch, Paul Carpenter, John Whitworth, Rip Bulkeley and Josh Ekroy. Shall I compare thee to Teresa
Unclued lights consist of a quotation (in ODQ), its speaker and source, and a synonym (one hyphened) of each of its three words. Its author appears in the grid and must be shaded. Across 1 Excel as old Greek character among women (11) 11 Cable runs past part of bow (6) 13 Look in
Extra letters in clues form the phrase BITE THE DUST. Thematically created entries at 10, 11, 19, 29 and 34 (in which the types of dust are pother, pollen, stour, bort and ash) are defined by 15, 30, 18, 39 and 9. First prize Andrew Bell, Shrewsbury, Shropshire Runners-up Brenda Widger, Bowdon, Cheshire; John
White to play. This is from Lasker–Teichmann, St Petersburg 1909. Black had already resigned this game as he could anticipate White’s crushing blow. What had he foreseen? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 1 November or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of
