Janet de Botton and I decided to spice things up a bit at the Young Chelsea heat of the nationwide Portland Pairs on Sunday by having a small bet about which of us would do better. She was partnering the fiery Thor-Erik Hoftaniska and I was partnering the unflappable Phil King. When Janet began surging
The Caro-Kann Defence, 1 e4 c6, has always appealed to me. It has the advantage of staking a claim in the centre by means of … d5, without the disadvantages of the Centre Counter (1 e4 d5) which brings out Black’s queen prematurely, or the French Defence (1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5), which locks
In Competition No. 2890 you were invited to imagine that one of the major newspapers has ceased publication and provide a verse lament for it. In his 2004 book The Vanishing Newspaper Philip Meyer predicted that the final hard-copy newspaper will plop through someone’s letterbox in 2043. So who’ll be the first to go? Over
In nine clues, cryptic indications omit reference to parts of answers; these parts must be highlighted, to reveal a definition applicable to each of the five members of the perimeter cordon, reading clockwise, and two unclued lights. Letters in corner squares and those adjacent to them could make TEAM NEAR GAPS. Two of the perimeter’s
The words FAST FORWARD (given by letters added to definitions in clues) define 42 and 11, both indicating the way in which loans (1, 13, 18, 25, 32 and 43) are supplied. First prize John Newell, Kingston upon Thames Runners-up Tim Hanks, Douglas, Isle of Man; Andrew Hawkins, Prenton, Wirral
Black to play. This position is a variation from Ganguly-Vitiugov, Gibraltar 2014. The game started as a Caro-Kann and is mentioned in Houska’s book. Although Black is a pawn down he has very active pieces he can exploit with a clever tactic. Can you see it? Answers to me at The Spectator by Monday 30
