If you live in or around London you can play a pairs duplicate every night (or day) of the week to suit your standard. Teams is another story. Until the London Super League started about six years ago, there was no duplicate to accommodate teams who wanted to play regularly and competitively. Now we have
There are some odd opening moves in chess, such as 1 a3 and 1 g4. The former was used by Adolf Anderssen to win a game against Paul Morphy in their 1858 match, while the latter has been developed into an entire system by the English international master Michael Basman. Perhaps the weirdest of all
In Competition No. 2899 you were invited to write a poem commemorating the birth of Princess Charlotte of Cambridge. The impetus for this comp was Carol Ann Duffy’s failure to deliver the goods. This made some people very cross, but as the official website of the British Monarchy makes clear, modern laureates are under no
A phrase, formed by four unclued lights, incorporates a definition of the other unclued lights and an indication of the way in which they are entered. Two unclued lights are hyphened. Across 7 Nun, see, has to thank saint (6) 12 Rude man I’d sadly not held in high regard (9)
The future is not for parties ‘playing politics’ (16 29 1A 15) is a quotation by Woodrow Wilson. 1A provides a cryptic indication of 5, 13, 23 and 28. First prize Stephen Saunders, Midford, Bath Runners-up F.J. Bentley, Tiverton, Devon; Ian Dempsey, Oldwick, New Jersey
Black to play. This is from Westman-Walther, Havana 1966. Black has the possibility of a discovered check against the white king. How can he make the most of this? Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 2 June or via email to victoria@spectator.co.uk. The winner will be the first correct answer out of a
