Geir Helgemo, widely considered to be the best player in the world, regularly gets followed around by a posse of devoted fans (myself included) who ask him questions about various points of play. ‘How do you always “guess” where every card is?’ is one that particularly interests me, as the ability to ‘read’ the cards
‘Lipton’s writing is characterised by its rigour, and though his working through of alternative hypotheses can be demanding for the reader, his positions are always stated with great clarity’. That line is taken from an obituary of Michael Lipton, published in the Financial Times, who died in April at the age of 86. Lipton was a
White to play and mate in two moves. Composed by Michael Lipton, the Jerusalem Post, 1960 Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 17 July. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and allow six weeks for prize delivery. Last week’s
In Competition No. 3207 you were invited to submit a verse obituary of Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian former prime minister who, despite sex scandals and court battles, managed three stints as PM, died last month aged 86. His more startling gaffes included suggesting that Abruzzo earthquake survivors see their situation as ‘a weekend of camping’
The unclued lights (one of two words), all verifiable in Brewer, precede a word which appears as an abbreviation four times in the lower right-hand quadrant of the completed grid. Solvers should highlight all four examples. Ignore two apostrophes. Across 1 All omelettes cooked with pesto and chives, first (8,3) 7 Furtwängler finally reveals this
Each of the unclued lights (with the pair at 15/26) includes D C C (= 700). First prize Rosamund Campbell, Woodstock, Oxon Runners-up J. Smithies, Vale, Guernsey; William Devison, Shaldon, Devon
