Puzzles & games

Bridge

Bridge | 18 November 2023

I have been bragging incessantly about my team’s success in the Gold Cup. What an extraordinary comeback we made taking 69 imps back in the last eight boards. I may have even mentioned it to the local newsagent. Well – that was then. After three weekends of Premier League not only didn’t we win, we

Chess

Double gold in Palermo

English grandmasters Michael Adams and John Nunn both won gold medals at the World Senior Championships in Palermo, which ended earlier this month. Adams was the top seed in the over-50 section, while Nunn was the top seed in the over-65s, and the reigning champion. With one round to go, both were half a point

Chess puzzle

No. 778

White to play. Jansa-Wengholm, World Senior Championship 65+, 2023. With his next move, the Czech grandmaster Jansa struck a decisive blow on the kingside. What did he play? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 21 November. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include

Competition

Spectator competition winners: Bertie Wooster meets 007

In Competition No. 3325 you were invited to describe an encounter between Bertie Wooster and James Bond in the style of P.G. Wodehouse. The seed for this popular challenge was Ben Schott’s much-praised 2018 homage to P.G. Wodehouse, Jeeves and the King of Clubs, in which Jeeves and Wooster enter into the world of international

Crossword

2631:Nine capitalists

The unclued lights are of a kind, verifiable in Brewer with the help of the red squares which must be read in order row by row. Ignore one apostrophe and an acute accent, elsewhere. Across 9    Terrible President out on a limb at heart, troubled (10) 14    Courier company raises its charges (3) 16    Make

Crossword solution

2628: Customary taxes – solution

The unclued lights are all SCOTticisms, most listed on page 14 of the Word Lover’s Ramble at the end of Chambers 13th edition. First prize  Ann Holme, Salisbury, Wiltshire Runners-up  Sandra Speak, Dursley, Gloucestershire; Paul Beesley, Barnet, Hertfordshire