It’s not unusual to get distracted at the bridge table, but sometimes that distraction takes peculiar forms. Last month, I was lucky enough to be on a team with the Swedish women’s gold medallists Jessica Larsson, Kathrine Bertheau and Sanna Clementsson – three of my favourite people. They had flown to Bristol to join me
Aspirin, a greasy fry-up, even hair of the dog – all are popular options when nursing a hangover. The last thing you would choose to do is play a long game of chess, but that’s exactly the pickle in which Magnus Carlsen found himself during the first round of the 2012 London Chess Classic. The
White to play. Another variation from McShane – Carlsen, London Chess Classic 2012 (in case of 32…Qf6-f5) Carlsen avoided this position, since he had spotted a winning move for White. What was it? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 29 May. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out
In Competition No. 3300, you were invited to describe in verse a meal of your choice with a well-known poet, living or dead. The entry was a whopper, with too many star performers to name individually. Hats off, all round. The winners, which include David Silverman’s account of going on a bender with Dante, take
The unclued lights are of a kind and may be easy to see. A diacritical mark should be ignored in each of two clued solutions. Across 1 Ungenerous-sounding notice gets woman in frenzy (6) 7 Birthday back in one Scottish home (5) 13 A sign to remove singer (5) 17 Parent welcoming one of her
2603 has the prime factors 19 x 137 which further decompose into (102 – 92) x (42 + 112). Therefore the rubric states: ‘puzzle NUMBER is BRACKET TEN SQUARED MINUS NINE SQUARED BRACKET TIMES BRACKET FOUR SQUARED PLUS ELEVEN SQUARED BRACKET’. First prize John Bennett, Havant, HantsRunners-up Julie Sanders, Bishops Waltham, Southampton; Richard Andrews, Ashford, Middlesex
