Goring the gambit
One of the most irritating defences to meet when playing 1 d4 as White is the Benko Gambit (1 d4…
no. 555
White to play. This position is from Dubov-Giri, Moscow 2019. How did White conclude with a fine blow that forced…
Animal magic
In Competition No. 3099 you were invited to dream up an imaginary animal that is a hybrid of two existing…
2409: Crosswords
The unclued lights are of a kind, including one hyphened, all confirmed in Chambers except for 8 across, which is…
to 2406: Heptad
The group is ‘Les Nabis’ (anagram of ALBINESS (18)). Its members were VALLOTTON, DENIS, ROUSSEL, RANSON, SÉRUSIER, BONNARD and VUILLARD.…
How paranoia has infected our politics
The politics professor Matthew Goodwin made an interesting observation on Twitter this week. He pointed out that many of the…
Could my slogan have swayed the Brexit vote?
People sometimes ask what slogan could have swayed the Brexit vote: the opposite of the touchstone phrase ‘Take back control’.…
Dear Mary: What should I do when my host won’t serve the champagne I brought?
Q. Was I right to feel aggrieved when, having contributed a bottle of fine champagne to a small supper party,…
Debunking the Greek wine myth
A book, a bottle, a bower set in an ancient garden: you think that if you walked round the right…
Why is a book like a sarcophagus?
‘Is it like a packet of fags?’ asked my husband, less annoyingly than usual, but still in some confusion. I…
ScoMoses
Scott Morrison, having parted Labor’s red sea and led his astonished people to the promised land, must seize his Moses…
If the ABC is so trustworthy, why isn’t anybody watching it?
Here’s a question. Who said this recently, about the ABC: ‘The ABC is one of Australia’s most important institutions. Now,…
Brown study
Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 US election the day she called Donald Trump’s supporters ‘a basket of deplorables’. After that,…
Business/Robbery etc
Bob Hawke and Sir Peter Abeles; Bill Shorten and Anthony Pratt. What is it that attracts such close friendships between…
Australian notes
Eleven random thoughts Let me start with a bow to those who thought it best to vote for Malcolm Turnbull…
The sloppiest suicide note
‘No-one saw it coming,’ the shocked commentariat claimed. Goodness. Where are the ABC’s fact checkers when you need them? In…
Election notes
At the Anglican boarding school I attended in England as a scholarship boy from the age of ten it often…
London notes
A Right shambles One of the glories of London is its vast Hyde Park and adjoining Kensington Gardens. On a…
The immigration iceberg
In the Middle Ages the periodic return of plague from the Middle East to communities throughout Europe killed off possibly…
Captain James Cook. Wedgwood and Bentley, c.1779
Three speakers: one is Director of The Royal Collection comprising over a million objects in 13 royal residences across the…
It was The Speccie wot won it
‘No body saw it coming,’ the mainstream media repeated endlessly when results emerged on Saturday evening 18 May, contrary to…
We picked it
The Coalition’s election victory may have come as a shock to many, but certainly not to readers of The Spectator…
Brexit means Boris
A few months before he died in 2007, the famous journalist Bill Deedes asked if I would come to see…
The Coalition’s back: time to get real on jobs and pay
The Australian people have spoken and re-elected a Coalition government. But don’t be surprised if the big unions ignore their…
