Each November, Paula Leslie organises the Young Chelsea Women’s Teams — a fantastic event, attracting many of Europe’s best players to London. It was a shame it had to be held online this year — but I must say there was something rather magical about competing on ‘Realbridge’ with video streaming and sound. How extraordinary
Put yourself in the shoes of Aryan Gholami, the teenage master from Iran who was paired with an Israeli opponent in Sweden in January 2019. It’s a blitz tournament, so you’re due to begin in minutes. For political reasons, your country expects that you will refuse to play the game, and there may be repercussions
White to play and win. E. Pogosjants, Shakhmaty v SSSR 1976. Promoting the a-pawn allows Black a perpetual check. Which move wins the game? Answers should be emailed to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 30 December. There is a prize of £20 for the first correct answer out of a hat. Please include a postal address and
In Competition No. 3176 you were invited to write a poem to a city. This challenge was inspired by both Simon Armitage’s letter to London (‘Dear London, I’ve applied for a restraining order requiring that you remain 200 miles from Huddersfield at all times…’), and William McGonagall’s inadvertently hilarious ‘Jottings of New York’, of which
The unclued lights (all but one either hyphened or of two words) share a distinctive feature. Across 1 Fun and games of conservative leader amongst those opposing him (6) 7 Cost out red herald’s tunic, once (6) 13 Less convincing Debussy composition …. (5, two words) 16 … and which gets first directed badly by
The unclued lights each contain all five vowels once only, but in different orders. First prize Dr Stephen Clarkson, Hadleigh, Suffolk Runners-up Roslyn Shapland, Ilkeston, Derbyshire; P. and D. Keating, Beeford, Yorkshire
