Anyone who doubts that bridge keeps your brain sharp in old age should have a game with Bernard Teltcher. Bernard recently celebrated his 95th-and-a-half birthday (very touching, I thought), but don’t be fooled by his frail demeanour or his wheelchair. He’s a formidable opponent. Not only is he one of the best high-stake players at
In the recent super-tournament in St Louis, Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana and Lev Aronian opted to share the laurels. According to the regulations, any tie for first place should have been resolved by a playoff. But the three co-victors decided that they would prefer to share the trophy. This peaceful solution was in line with the tournament
In Competition No. 3064 you were invited to supply a newspaper leading article exposing the hitherto unsuspected corrupting influence of a seemingly innocuous everyday item. This assignment was inspired by the revelation, in a recent letter to the Times, that patent leather shoes were outlawed at a British girls’ public school as recently as the
2 describes a pair of unclued lights (three words altogether), which in turn include the others. Across 12 Single by pop group: ‘Go for violent crime’ (8) 13 Beast’s sardonic-sounding refusal (5) 14 Wing and tail feathers missing one month (8) 16 Book I inscribed for myself? (4) 20 Will’s to resurrect a year’s
The key phrase is LIKE A TANSY (39). The scientific name of the tansy is TANACETUM VULGARE (4A 12); remaining unclued lights are synonyms of tan (4D, 34), ace (25, 33) and tum (3, 19). First prize Eileen Robinson, Sheffield Runners-up Peter Moody, Fareham, Hants; Mrs L. Ashley, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex
White to play. This position is a variation from Caruana-Karjakin, St Louis 2018. Can you spot White’s classic mating finish? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 11 September or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address
