Life
Real life
Goodbye then, Bal-ham. You were my gateway to the south. I loved you for so many more reasons than that,…
This snap election’s real victims? Bankers’ wives
The people I feel most sorry for in the wake of Theresa May’s shock announcement are not moderate Labour MPs,…
Fund a fisherman or finance a film
Crowdfunding is a promising idea, and has created useful products. The Canary home-security system I wrote about recently was funded…
Bridge
Not many people can say they’ve partnered David Gold and been the better player — but I’m one of them.…
BCM
The British Chess Magazine is the oldest continuously published chess magazine in the world. Recently it has been boosted by…
no. 453
White to play. This position is from Costachi-Toma, Calimanesti 2017. Can you spot White’s winning coup? Answers to me at…
High life
If any more proof were needed that Brexit is the best thing to happen to Britain since 1066 and all…
2305: Whodunnit?
The unclued lights (one of two words) can be resolved into three associated trios which are not the solution to…
to 2302: Urbane turban
The twelve undefined solutions become one Scottish and eleven English towns, if the final letter is omitted or a letter…
Jamie’s latest plank
Barbecoa is Jamie Oliver’s new restaurant on Piccadilly, and no matter how many times I mutter the name, I do…
High life
Things that I once loved — Fifth Avenue & 57th Street, brownstone terraces on hot summer afternoons, cold beer and…
The Battle for Britain
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Low life
I ran for the airport terminal shuttle bus; the doors shut behind me as I skipped on. I sank into…
King Charles’s head
‘It has become something of a King Charles’ head, or should that be a King Charles’s head?’ said my husband,…
Real life
Some people get into the choosing of tap fittings. I am not a person who gets into the choosing of…
What makes players popular?
What a treat to be Sergio Garcia. Not only have you just won your first major and trousered a small…
Why Parcs life is not for me
Against my better judgment, I agreed to go to Center Parcs for an Easter weekend break. We chose the one…
The turf
Every Grand National reminds me of a hero of my youth: Beltrán Alfonso Osorio y Díez de Rivera, the 18th…
Bridge
Bridge 24 was set up seven years ago by four Polish internationals who wanted to bring the glory days of…
Presidential panic
This month, watch out for unidentified fleeing presidents. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, president of Fidé, the World Chess Federation, and a self-confessed…
no. 452
White to play. This position is from Euwe-Fischer, New York 1957. White has two winning moves in this position. Can…
Dear John
In Competition No. 2992 you were invited to submit a Dear John letter, in prose or verse, in the style…
Dear Mary
Q. My aunt lives in a small market town with narrow roads and limited parking. A neighbour opposite acquired a…
Bridge
We all know how important it is to stop and think when defending a hand. There’s just one problem with…
Stakhanovite
Before leaving the topic of the 50th anniversary of the 1967 tournament to mark the half-century of the Russian revolution,…
