Life
Vishy regime
The Candidates tournament has been won by Vishy Anand who adopted the safety-first policy of winning two of his first…
No. 309
White to play. This position is from Mamedyarov-Aronian, Khanty-Mansisk 2014. White’s next was an ingenious way to demonstrate that his…
Putdownable
In Competition 2842 you were invited to compose the most off-putting book blurb that you could muster. There’s just space…
2157: Song X
Round the perimeter clockwise from 1 run six lights of a kind (7,9,10,9,9,8): if the grid were a 13/12, they…
to 2154: Clickety click
The MUSICAL (33) BARON (29) Lloyd-Webber’s BIRTHDAY (40) was on 22nd March; he was 66 (hence the title). His works…
Two books I almost wrote (and one I did)
There’s nothing quite so burdensome as having a book to write. Maybe it’s not so bad when it’s your first…
The Battle For Britain
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You can buy happiness
If you are reading this article online, perhaps you could go to the comments section and let us know what…
Dear Mary
Q. Our son, aged l6, has a medical condition which, although not life-threatening, requires surgery by a specialist to pre-empt…
A storm in Bordeaux
The en primeur tastings have been taking place in Bordeaux, and the mood has oscillated from despair to defiance. It…
Ping
In the search for the remains of flight MH370, a pulse signal was detected beneath the ocean. The BBC called…
A storm in Bordeaux
The en primeur tastings have been taking place in Bordeaux, and the mood has oscillated from despair to defiance. It…
You can buy happiness
If you are reading this article online, perhaps you could go to the comments section and let us know what…
High life
New York Back to the mythic city, dreamed into existence by the movies long ago and instantly memorable, a visually…
Low life
Depressed and demoralised after the defeat of his nation of farmers in the second Boer war, Eugène Marais, an Afrikaner…
Real life
All the way around a cross country course I went, then I got back, tied the horse up at a…
Ledbury Road
Two poems in memory of Mick Imlah 1. ‘Hardy and Housman lived round here,’ I said, slumped in an armchair…
Long life
More than 20 years ago, when I was living in New York, I wrote an article about the mutilation by…
True sportsmen
In the parade ring just after Sire De Grugy had won this year’s Queen Mother Champion Chase, I found myself…
Bridge
Dallas to me was an Eighties TV series with huge shoulder pads until I arrived there to play the American…
Candidates compendium
This week I focus on a number of key positions from the World Championship qualifier, the Candidates tournament, which concluded…
No. 308
White to play. This position is from Topalov-Kramnik, Fidé Candidates, Khanty-Mansisk 2014. Kramnik has badly misplayed the opening and now…
Vice verse
In Competition 2841 you were invited to paint an amusing portrait in verse of the vice and folly of humankind.…
2156: Shoreline
Seven items of a kind read clockwise round the perimeter. In ten clues, cryptic indications omit reference to parts of…
to 2153: Selling
Corrections of misprints in clues form the phrase BAIT AND SWITCH. Unclued lights are examples of bait (10, 16, 23,…
