It’s hard to explain to non-bridge players just how all-consuming this game is. For those of us who move in the same highly competitive circles, it’s simply a way of life. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about bridge. For now, though, my kids are on their summer break, so bridge has
This year’s British Championship commences today in Hull. Among a powerful field, which includes Michael Adams and defending champion Gawain Jones, Luke McShane stands out as a supremely dangerous tactician, who at his best can overrun any opponent. This week’s game shows him outmanoeuvring a leading contender from last year’s championship. McShane-Howell: British Championship, Llandudno
In Competition No. 3058 you were invited to supply snippets of mischievously/sadistically misleading advice for foreign tourists visiting Britain, or for British ones travelling abroad. This is an assignment that you always embrace with relish, though one competitor observed that it felt curiously difficult this time round because ‘the interaction between Britain and Abroad isn’t
Each of ten clues contains a misprinted letter in the definition part. Corrections of misprints spell a word which can be read as an indicator of the unclued lights in each of four columns of the grid. Across 1 Revolutionary avoids accepting one god (7) 6 Destroyed each bit of opium (7) 11
THE RUSSIA HOUSE, TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY and A MURDER OF QUALITY are novels by JOHN (41) LE CARRÉ, whose surname is the puzzle’s TITLE (13) in FRENCH (30). First prize Ian Webster, Craven Arms, Shropshire Runners-up Angus Ross, Old Portsmouth, Hampshire; Samantha Pine, Poole, Dorset
Black to play. This position is from Brown-Adams, British Championship, Bournemouth 2016. Black has various ways to force mate but only one move does the job in five moves at most. Can you find it? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 31 July or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. There is a prize of
