Just back from Monaco, the tiny principality famously dubbed ‘a sunny place for shady people’ by Somerset Maugham. Pierre Zimmermann, the biggest sponsor of all time, holds his highly prestigious European Winter Games and Cavendish Trophy there on alternate years. This year it was the turn of the Winter Games, a wonderful feast of bridge.
In the 1800s, several chess matches were conducted by telegraph. Modern technology ought to make long-distance matches easier than ever, but in fact competitive international chess is almost always played in person these days. That is partly because it is impossible to police computer-assisted cheating if the players play at home. But equally, the practical
Black to play. Tomashevsky–Lomasov, Nutcracker Battle of the Generations, Moscow 2020. A position with a surprising twist. Tomashevsky has just captured a bishop on b7. What is Black’s best response? Answers to ‘Chess’ at The Spectator by Tuesday 17 March or via email to victoria@-spectator.co.uk. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct
In Competition No. 3139 you were invited to submit a four-line verse epitaph for a well-known person, living or dead. There was lots of waspish wit on show this week, often deployed at the expense of our elected representatives. Many entries ran along similar lines to this one, from Steve Baldock, though not all of
Four pairs of unclued lights (17/5, 22/27, 29/31 and 8/26) form anagrams of the titles (one hyphened, three of three words) of novels by an author whose name is clued without definition. Across 1 Apportioning silver crooked nursemaid pinched (11)7 Being in French city without local friend (3)11 Sickness in Vermont and Maine infected America
41/1A/10 is MISQUOTATION. 1D/24/33, 15, 34, and 38/16D are examples of common misquotations. First prize Dianne Parker, Dover, KentRunners-up Vincent Clark, Frant, East Sussex; Robin Vick, Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex
