I feel that we in the bridge community (is there one? Am I in it?) haven’t made enough of a song-and-dance about Andrew Robson being awarded an OBE in the Queen’s new year’s honours list. It’s been nearly 20 years since a bridge player was honoured in this way (the last was Nicola Smith in
Any book by the erudite Steve Giddins is an event and he has now produced a valuable guide to the popular Winawer Variation of the French Defence, championed by the eponymous Simon Winawer, as well as Nimzowitsch, Botvinnik, Petrosian and Korchnoi. The Winawer gives up the bishop pair early on in most lines, seeking to
In Competition No. 2784 you were invited to rewrite John Betjeman’s poem ‘Slough’, substituting the target of your choice. The poet Ian McMillan sprang to Slough’s defence in 2005 with ‘Slough Re-visited’, an antidote to Betjeman’s jaundiced take on the town: ‘Come friendly words and splash on Slough!/ Celebrate it, here and now/ Describe it
Each of eighteen clues contains one misprinted letter in the definition part. Corrections of misprints spell a four-word phrase which alludes to the unclued lights, indicating the position of one of them in relation to the others. One unclued light is hyphened; elsewhere, ignore an accent. Across 1 Neat section, last of four in
1D, 2 40, 12 and 15 36 are PERSONAE (43) that have been adopted by DAVID BOWIE. Unchecked letters of unclued lights are supplied by the thematically allusive astronaut writer, piano guy spelt by extra letters in clues. First prize Simon Harris, London SE21 Runners-up Trevor Evans, Drulingen, France; Kevin Ward, Quorn, Leicestershire
White to play. This position is from Hartston-Portisch, Nice 1974. Can you spot White’s most accurate continuation of the attack? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 19 February or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7681 3773. The winner will be the first correct answer out of a hat, and
