Life
Battle for Britain
Got something to add? Join the discussion and comment below.
Keres scene
This week I conclude my homage to the great Estonian grandmaster Paul Keres, who was born a century ago this…
No. 393
White to play. This is from Keres-Mardle, Hastings 1964. How did Keres ignite his attack? Answers to me at The…
Doublespeak
In Competition No. 2932 you were invited to submit up to 16 lines of verse that are the fruit of…
Your problems solved
Q. For the past two New Year’s Eves we have ducked an annual party given by some acquaintances, who are…
Border spirit
There has been a gastronomic revolution in London. For some years, the Boisdale restaurants, often mentioned here, have featured Macsween’s…
High life
The Dolly Sisters were off to Davos last week for the World Economic Forum: Nat Rothschild and Sebastian Taylor in…
Long life
No good deed goes unpunished. This is a saying that applies with special poignancy to Olive Cooke, the 92-year-old poppy…
Long life
No good deed goes unpunished. This is a saying that applies with special poignancy to Olive Cooke, the 92-year-old poppy…
Low life
Roy was a superb mechanic, a methodical master of his trade. For an hour I respectfully watched him work to…
Low life
Roy was a superb mechanic, a methodical master of his trade. For an hour I respectfully watched him work to…
Peak
Near Victoria Station in London they began to build a tower-block advertised as ‘The Peak’. I expected it to resemble…
Real life
My attempt to have a small cyst removed from the spaniel was always going to be fraught with difficulty. My…
Is this a golden age of protest?
Are we living in a golden age of protest? A bunch of aggrieved citizens only has to raise a murmur…
Is this a golden age of protest?
Are we living in a golden age of protest? A bunch of aggrieved citizens only has to raise a murmur…
The power of painless payment
I am one of those annoying, mildly claustrophobic people who sit at the end of a row in cinemas. There…
Bridge
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster, and treat those two impostors just the same… Well, Kipling obviously never…
Will Iman give me a second chance before I die?
The death of David Bowie — how is it that Stephen Glover always gets it right about our over-reaction and…
The secret life of Sir John Major
Putting old or contaminated petrol in a car needn’t be catastrophic, but in the Golf’s case it was. With 37,000…
Next time I go to India, I want imperialism 2.0
When in India, I always appal my highly educated tour guides. They despair of me, as they drag me round…
Mark Twain was right: it is our redeeming petty vices that make life worth living
Here I go again. I have stopped smoking. Until recently I had been smoking about 40 cigarettes a day, but…
The small wonders of horse racing
Cheltenham, Ascot and Sandown Park are wonderful but without the little tracks racing would be lost. It was perishing cold…
Bridge
The New Year got off to a great start with TGR’s annual auction pairs, the best run tournament I have…
Pauline conversion
Paul Keres, the Estonian grandmaster and many times world championship contender, was born a hundred years ago this month. His…
No. 392
White to play. This position is from Keres-Spassky, Gothenburg 1955. Can you spot White’s crushing blow? Answers to me at…
