Life
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,…
The need to know
It’s scarcely possible to open a newspaper or magazine these days without reading an article about how the latest technological…
The Battle For Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
In defence of the Boat Race
It’s Boat Race time again and as soon as the BBC starts its broadcast on Sunday there will be those…
Your problems solved
Q. It’s only April and yet I am being emailed by parents who have already taken charge and are drumming…
A far cry from Chelsea
London House is in Battersea, which some people call South Chelsea, but is more East Wandsworth to my mind; or…
Jail
‘Go to jail. Go directly to jail. Do not pass Go. Do not collect £200.’ said the Community Chest card…
Ledbury Road
Two poems in memory of Mick Imlah 1. ‘Hardy and Housman lived round here,’ I said, slumped in an armchair…
A far cry from Chelsea
London House is in Battersea, which some people call South Chelsea, but is more East Wandsworth to my mind; or…
Ledbury Road
Two poems in memory of Mick Imlah 1. ‘Hardy and Housman lived round here,’ I said, slumped in an armchair…
In defence of the Boat Race
It’s Boat Race time again and as soon as the BBC starts its broadcast on Sunday there will be those…
True sportsmen
In the parade ring just after Sire De Grugy had won this year’s Queen Mother Champion Chase, I found myself…
Low life
Another sunny Sunday morning and the phone rings. I pick up the receiver. It’s Frank. I groan inwardly. Frank is…
Real life
This horse-rearing business is not for the faint-hearted. I don’t know what I was thinking when I bought an eight-month-old…
Long life
Waitrose in Towcester has closed down for a week to make what it describes as ‘a final few touches’ to…
Wild life
Laikipia When I first knew Michael Cunningham-Reid he was such a strict teetotaller that he would not eat trifle for…
Bridge
You’ve probably read about the English Bridge Union’s attempt to get bridge reclassified as a sport rather than a game…
Magnus force
As the World Championship qualifier (aka Candidates tournament) approaches its final rounds in Khanty-Mansisk, it is worth emphasising the Everest which…
No. 307
White to play. This is a possible variation from Mamedyarov-Topalov, Khanty-Mansisk Candidates 2014. The black king is rather exposed in…
De haut en bas
In Competition 2840 you were invited to provide an extract from the autobiography of a modern-day celebrity, ghostwritten by a…
2155: Poor Billy’s left out
The unclued lights (two must be paired) are of a kind, verifiable in Brewer. Across 10 Details from Britain…
