Life
No. 408
White to play. This position is a variation from So-Kasparov, St Louis 2016. What is White’s quickest kill? Answers to…
Olden but golden
In Competition No. 2947 you were asked to submit a poem in praise of old age. Old age gets a…
Dear Mary
How do you persuade your pleasant dinner guests to go home when they will stay into the early hours if…
Soho in Somerset
It is summer and the listless metropolitan thinks of grass. It cannot afford to stay at Durslade Farmhouse, Somerset, a…
High life
New York It was the best of times — downtown — and the worst of times — uptown. Let’s start…
Low life
On Sunday we were invited for lunch at Chez Bruno, an unbelievably posh restaurant in the south of France. At…
Low life
On Sunday we were invited for lunch at Chez Bruno, an unbelievably posh restaurant in the south of France. At…
Sadiq Khan’s virtues
The new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he wanted ‘the most transparent, honest and accessible administration London has ever…
Real life
Hello, Cydney spaniel here. She’s lying in a darkened room so I’m to tell you what happened. To cut a…
The Foxes have little to teach us
A few years ago a motivational speaker brought out a smart little book called Legacy: What The All Blacks Can…
These heartless Europhile snobs
One of the interesting features of the Brexit debate is that it has laid bare a schism in British society…
These heartless Europhile snobs
One of the interesting features of the Brexit debate is that it has laid bare a schism in British society…
Twelve to follow
It has been a little like scraping from the plate as slowly as possible the last traces of Mrs Oakley’s…
Twelve to follow
It has been a little like scraping from the plate as slowly as possible the last traces of Mrs Oakley’s…
Bridge
It’s the beginning of May and I have a feeling I am about to write the same opening sentence as…
Hearing that 60 is the new 40 makes me want to punch the nearest octagenarian
New York I went downtown to Katz’s the other day and had a pastrami sandwich that made me want…
French labour laws should come with a health warning
The tourist information office of the small French country town looked closed. Peering between the posters on the window glass,…
Welcome to the only house left in south-east England that hasn’t been chavved up
Buffy Sainte-Marie said it best. ‘The lights of town are at my back, my heart is full of stars./ And…
Bridge
I’ve been practising bidding online with my friend Guy Hart in preparation for the Spring Fours in Stratford (we’ll know…
Out of the book
Last week we saw the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen taking a leaf from Alekhine’s book to destroy eccentric opening…
No. 407
White to play. This is from Pacher-Radnai, Budapest 2016. How did White exploit a tactical opportunity to make a decisive…
Post mortem
In Competition No. 2946 you were invited to supply a verse obituary of a well-known person who has died in…
2259: Eco
The unclued lights (one of two words) can be preceded by the same word which is hidden in the completed…
To 2256: 11 x 11
The unclued lights reveal ELEVEN (five English and six Scottish) league football teams (3/38, 4/1D, 10, 14, 18, 18/28, 19,…
If the Sats-strike parents get their way only the poorer kids will suffer
Tuesday’s protest against Key Stage 1 Sats was moronic on so many levels that it’s hard to know where to…
