After an enjoyable week playing in the European Transnational Championships in Poznan recently (the Mixed Teams), I had time to spare before catching my flight home. The Open Teams had just begun, so I decided to kibitz for a while. I chose to sit behind the iconic Swedish player Peter Fredin, who I’ve been following
They say chess is an art, a science and a sport. Now it’s an e-sport too. The Esports World Cup, held in Riyadh, is an annual international tournament for major computer games such as Dota 2, this year with $38 million in prizes across the 25 events. For the first time, chess took its place
White to play. A position from an internet game played in 2025. Black looks well placed, as the Bd6 is pinned and the c3 pawn is menacing. But there is an extraordinary move which wins the game for White. Which one? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 9 August. There is a prize of a
For Comp. 3411 you were invited to submit a passage or poem on the subject of dynamic pricing. Thanks to Paul Freeman for the suggestion, who deserves a nod for his entry too. So do Mike Morrison, Matt Quinn, Nicholas Lee, Elizabeth Kay, Frank Upton and others, and here’s John O’Byrne’s Larkinesque riff: I listen
The unclued lights (including six of two words and one of three words), individually, as pairs or as trios, are of a kind. Across 10 Tot ate more stewed fruit (4,6) 12 Beginning of term of some ninety months (6) 13 Gang carrying girl back to a prairie province (8) 16 Change place once on
The unclued lights are pairs of anagrams: 5/32, 6D/25, 11/30, 18&33/3, 19/39, 28/8. First prize Margaret Shiels, Edinburgh Runners-up Archie Batra, Ealing; Christopher Coleman, Cheltenham, Glos
