Sometimes the stars align in such a wondrous way that the team they are favouring cannot go wrong. Such a line-up fell upon my team in last week’s World Bridge Tour in lovely Copenhagen. First star that kerchunked into our constellation was that I couldn’t play, which left six professionals with no weak link who
The momentum augured badly for Fabiano Caruana in the final match of the Grand Chess Tour, held in Sao Paulo earlier this month. In the first classical game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave he blew a chance to take a commanding lead in the match, since wins in those slow games were weighted more than the subsequent
White to play. Cmiel – Leitner, European Senior (50+) Championship, October 2025. The situation looks hopeless, but White found a brilliant counterattack. Which move did he play? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 13 October. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address
For Competition 3420 you were invited to submit a poem or short story incorporating that sentence of Emerson’s: ‘The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.’ Dr Johnson may have been the first to mention spoon counting, saying (according to Boswell) that ‘if he does really think that there is
The unclued lights can be arranged to grow from 3 to 11 letters in length, each being an anagram of its predecessor and an extra letter. Across 7 Equipment for Bell, Athey and Trescothick initially (3) 13 Male folk star’s alarming words (7) 15 Pipe valley running through Britain (5) 16 Reportedly remained stolid (5)
The list of 21 letters comprises abbreviations, listed in Chambers. First prize Alan Norman, Impington, Cambridge Runners-up Peter Chapman, Edinburgh; David Tatarata, London WC1N
