Life
Magical thinking isn’t a political position
I’m due to debate the philosopher A.C. Grayling on Saturday about whether there should be a second EU referendum on…
The turf
The longer Donald Trump sits there the better Ronald Reagan looks, not least because he had a sense of humour.…
Bridge
I realised long ago that I almost never play bridge with a partner worse than me. Occasionally, I cut a…
Tetralogy
Four important events have taken centre stage over the past few weeks. These were tournaments in Shenzen (won by Ding…
no. 456
White to play. This is from Kramnik-Adams, Shamkir 2017. How did Kramnik complete his rout of the black position? Answers…
Acrostic spectator
In Competition No. 2996 you were invited to submit an acrostic sonnet in which the first letters of each line…
2308: Landmark
This puzzle is a landmark for D(0)C: his first crossword appeared in The Spectator in the issue dated July 4th…
to 2305: Whodunnit?
The unclued lights are trios of Cluedo © rooms at 1A, 14A and 40, weapons at 6, 13 and 14,…
Dear Mary
Q. I have a very good cleaner who comes once a week. She is far more efficient than anyone I’ve…
A very British bildung
Over the long weekend I read a couple of bildungs-romans; one a revisit after many years, the other a recent…
High life
I’m sitting in my office and the place is still. The rest of the house is dark. Everyone’s out and…
The Battle for Britain
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Low life
‘Emmanuel Macron est le plus grand con du monde,’ said the elderly gent taking the vacant seat on my right…
Compliance
Ralph Bathurst was accused shortly after his death in 1704 of being ‘suspected of Hypocrisy and of mean Complyance’. I…
Real life
A gentleman on Twitter ‘writes’ to say I’m boring him with my house move. ‘Snooze-fest’, says this chap, and he…
It’s time you made some enemies, George
Dear George Osborne, I thought it worth passing along some advice about your new job. I’ve never edited a news-paper,…
The MBA idiocies that ruin everything
I rang a company’s call centre the other day, and the experience was exemplary: helpful, knowledgeable, charming. The firm was…
Wild life
Laikipia, Kenya On my way home to the ranch, I stopped for a beer with my neighbour Martin. It was…
Bridge
Janet likes to tease me that whenever it’s my turn to write this column, it ought to be renamed The…
Catalan
The Catalan opening looks as if it should be relatively harmless, combining as it does the Queen’s Gambit with the…
no. 455
White to play. This position is from So–Kramnik, Gashimov Memorial 2017. So retreated with 1 Ne3 and eventually won. How could…
The turf
Any of us can forget little things on leaving home in a hurry. To the chagrin of Mrs Oakley, who…
Bridge
Last week we played round four of the Gold Cup. I had eagerly looked at the email to see who…
Bugged
Polish grandmaster Akiba Rubinstein was one of the strongest players never to win the world title. Up to 1914 he…
no. 454
Black to play. This position is from Belsitzman-Rubinstein, Warsaw 1917. How did Rubinstein finish off? Answers to me at The…
