To paraphrase E.L. Wisty, the late, great Peter Cook’s alter ego, ‘Some people are born lazy, some become lazy and some have laziness thrust upon them.’ If you are any of these, there are going to be some contracts that you could make but don’t. I speak from years of experience! The more we play,
At the Chennai Olympiad, the Indian team began as second seeds, even with former World Champion Vishy Anand absent from the lineup. But it is the host country’s privilege to field more than one team, and India used its second team to showcase the next generation of talent. This team, which included three 16-year-olds, even
White to play. Navara – Batsuren, Chennai Olympiad 2022. In this strange position Czech grandmaster David Navara found an elegant way to conclude the game. Which move did he play next? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by 16 August. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat.
In Competition No. 3261, you were invited to submit a poem about the James Webb Space Telescope. The first dazzling images captured by its infrared eyes were a welcome antidote to our terrestrial woes. They brought to mind the moment in the film Contact when Jodie Foster’s character comes face to face with a celestial
The unclued lights, two of two words, and including four pairs using two of the unclued lights twice, are of a kind. Across 1 Metal-workers task expanded reportedly to include trophy (4-4) 11 Bill’s new car. Capital! (5) 13 A way to work out the last part of Hedda Gabler, possibly (7) 17 Patrols
The unclued lights are words (or one phrase) which contain three pairs (3 x 2, in the title) of double letters: 13 Tennessee, 15/14 Sweet tooth, 17/37 Successfully, 21/24/39 Whippoorwill, 31/2 Bookkeeper, 41 Committee, 42/6 Barrenness. First prize Chris Edwards, Leeds Runners-up Graeme Palmer, Switzerland; Emma Corke, Abinger Hammer, Surrey
