Bridge Scanner is a great website set up about ten years ago by Lithuania’s Erikas Vainikonis, I imagine because it was almost impossible to find the running scores for any of the big tournaments. At the moment the World Championships are being played in Denmark and it literally takes me 20 seconds to find the
In one sense, everything went right for Nodirbek Yakubboev at the Rubinstein Memorial, held in Poland earlier this month. The 23-year-old grandmaster, who was part of Uzbekistan’s gold medal winning squad at the Chennai Olympiad in 2022, scored a convincing tournament victory with four wins and five draws and pushed into the world’s top 50.
Black to play. O. Bronstein – L. McShane, World Blitz Team Championships, London, 2025. Bronstein sacrificed a knight for a kingside attack, but here I missed a chance to decide the game in my favour. Which move should I have played? Email answers to chess@spectator.co.uk by Monday 1 September. There is a prize of £20
For Competition 3414 you were invited to provide an extract from a well-known literary work rewritten to include appropriate product placements. Honourable mentions, in a top-notch entry, go to Max Ross, Ralph Goldswain, Hamish Wilson, John O’Byrne and Paula Cameron – and to Matt Quinn and Nick Syrett for a pair of excellent twists on
The unclued lights (one hyphened and one of two words) each bear a common feature. Across 7 Rodent, second seen in store (6) 12 Old Scottish borrowers who show respect about sons (9) 13 Rookie driver owns leading assets capital (5) 16 Bedcovers obtained from Chester’s shopping arcades lacking a touch of elegance (6) 20
The unclued lights reveal the titles of six Westerns: 1A, 1D/38/26, 18/5/43, 20/11, 23 and 45/24. First prize Basia Jones, London WC1 Runners-up Michael Crapper, Whitchurch, Hants; Geoff Hollas, London W12
