Life
No. 413
White to play. This is from Korchnoi-Karpov, Candidates Final, Moscow 1974. White’s next move destroyed the black position and led…
Nonsensical
In Competition No. 2952 you were invited to submit nonsense verse of up to 16 lines on the subject of…
Your problems solved
Q. My daughters and I were recently taking our seats on an aeroplane. From behind us came the recorded refrain…
Gossip from the top table
In the 1970s, when there were many fewer restaurants in London, Locket’s was much the best place to eat around…
High life
Marion, Baroness Lambert, was hit and killed by a London bus last month while shopping in Oxford Street, a cruel…
Long life
It was 41 years ago that The Spectator first urged its readers to vote Brexit in a referendum, but the…
Long life
It was 41 years ago that The Spectator first urged its readers to vote Brexit in a referendum, but the…
Low life
Michel is one of those Frenchmen one encounters now and again whose shining saintliness is beyond rational understanding. This great…
Low life
Michel is one of those Frenchmen one encounters now and again whose shining saintliness is beyond rational understanding. This great…
Little England
In the art of insult, the sting lies in the adjective, no matter how derogatory the noun. So it is…
Real life
‘This EU passport is an outrage. I want a British one!’ Not my words, Cydney’s. The spaniel is coming round…
Who’s sabotaging my Leave campaign?
I’ve never been a great believer in karma. After all, in the absence of some kind of cosmic enforcer of…
Who’s sabotaging my Leave campaign?
I’ve never been a great believer in karma. After all, in the absence of some kind of cosmic enforcer of…
The cultural hodgepodge that is Europe
If Geert Hofstede’s name is familiar to you, it might be from pop-science articles explaining a spate of Korean airliner…
Wild life
Kenya As soon as I pulled out of town, I knew I had made a mistake taking on the new…
Bridge
Just take the money! That’s the philosophy of many rubber bridge players when it comes to bidding — or rather…
Bridge
Many top-class bridge players enjoy flirting with poker, making it their bit on the side. I can certainly see the…
The Battle for Britain
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Edgehogs
Last week, commenting on Nigel Davies’s new book The Pirc Move by Move (Everyman Chess), I wrote about my win…
No. 412
Black to play. This is from Arnason-Keene, London 1981. How did Black bring his bishops to life? Answers to me…
Minus one
In Competition No. 2951 you were invited to remove a letter from a well-known book title and submit an extract…
Your problems solved
Q. When going out to dinner I’ve found some people will send everyone a list of the other guests so…
Un-Italian job
I have been waiting, like a heroine in fiction, for the specialist lasagne restaurant. London has long been heading this…
High life
Shelter Island is nestled in the Long Island Sound, ten minutes by ferry from Sag Harbor and a good 30…
Long life
I’m back in England after travelling from Italy by railway, because I have been forbidden to fly in case the…
