17 August/18 August 2019 ★ FTWeekend 11World champion Magnus
Carlsen will attempt his
personal Everest of a 2900
rating when the $325,000
Sinquefield Cup, one of the
great world tournaments
and the brainchild ofUS
chess benefactor Rex
Sinquefield, starts at Saint
Louis on Saturday.
The rating is a
performance number based
on a player’s results and the
level of his opponents. A
historical listshows Bobby
Fischer’s peak as 2790 andGarry Kasparov’s 2857,
compared with Carlsen’s
current level of 2882.
Could the Norwegian do
it? The field of 12 elite
grandmasters at Saint Louis
is identical with the
performers in Zagreb last
month. They include Nos
1-9 from the rankings.
Carlsen was impressive in
Croatia with a winning total
of an unbeaten 8.5/11, but to
achieve 2900 in Missouri he
would need 9/11, close to an
all-time best tournamentperformance. Realistically it
should not be on, and the
28-year-old had a bad day at
the office on Sunday, one
draw and two defeats, in therapid and blitz events that
precede the Sinquefield Cup.
But Carlsen has called 2900
“a half-attainable dream”
and given he has been in the
form of his life, Everest
cannot be ruled out.
2328
Can you find White’s only
move to draw this endgame
where Black is poised to go
two pawns up? Saving it 31
years ago put Paul Motwani
en route to becoming
Scotland’s first grandmaster.
Solution, back page1.
2345678A B CD E FGHDiversions
POLYMATH1,035 SET BY BRADMAN
CHESSLEONARD BARDEN
CROSSWORD16,248 SET BY ROSA KLEBB
Solution Polymath 1,033/$676((1:($5,1*
( 7 2 / 2 5 1 $
0&&$,1 620(1,*+ 76
2 * ( $ 2 ( 6
$55,(5(%$ 1 /,/, 20
% 5 , ( 2 ' 2
385, 67$1.,(:,&=
6 7 6 + 7 6 ,
/,)(%2$7 +273$1 76
(. 2 ( 6 ' ,
%5$+0$3875$ /2=,
2 * 6 8 0 ( (
63$57$ 6816(7621*
/ '. $ 5 7.
/$*(5.9,67 '25&$6
7 5 $ 1 ( / 2 1
Name..................................................................................................................... +(15,(77$7(03/(
Address................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................ACROSS
1 Countess who wrote
biographies; mother of
Antonia Fraser (9,8)
10 A covered passage across a
ditch around a fortified place
(8)
11 A Scottish word for rude
gossips (8)
12 Title of the Duke of
Northumberland’s heir
apparent (4,5)
13 A member of a French
literary brotherhood founded
by Joseph Roumanille (7)
15 An albuminised paper used
in photography (4)
17 Persian poet, mathematician
and astronomer popularised
by Edward Fitzgerald (4,7)
19 Martyr who was killed by
pagans or robbers on one of
the Channel Islands (2,6)
20 Another name for
formaldehyde (8)
22 A parasitic protozoan that
can infest the urogenital and
digestive systems (11)
24 A small cake of unleavened
Indian bread, deep-fried and
served hot (4)
26 An archaic short form for a
word denoting a person with
full powers (7)
27 An adjective referring to
the fourth gospel and some
other New Testament books
(9)
30 A laminated mixture as a
constituent of cast iron and
steel (8)
31 An instruction for pianists to
use the soft pedal (literally
“one string”) (3,5)32 Paul Gauguin was such an
artist (4-13)DOWN
2 A climbing plant, especially a
twisted woody kind (5)
3 Aerobic rod-shaped bacteria
(9)
4 Trevor, an English test
cricketer and broadcaster
(6)
5 Sir Francis, conspirator
against Queen Elizabeth I
(12)
6 Physicist who gave his name
to a law in electromagnetism
(4)
7 Semi-cylindrical buildings
made of corrugated iron
(6,4)
8 A nickname for San
Francisco (3,4)
9 British diplomat accredited
with preventing a war
between Belgium and the
Netherlands (6,5)
14 Words represented by a
single sign in shorthand (12)
16 A form of sculpture with
projecting figures (4-7)
18 The occurrence of two forms
in the same species (10)
21 An instrument used by
cowherds in the mountains
of Switzerland and elsewhere
(9)
23 A rodent that is often a pest
of sugar plantations (4,3)
25 A native of a state on an
Arab peninsula (6)
28 A nest or breeding place; a
centre of infection (5)
29 MollyMollyMolly, Scottish actress who , Scottish actress who
died in 2004 (4)The first correct entry drawn
on Wednesday August 28
wins a copy of The Chambers
Dictionary. Entries should be
addressed to Polymath No
1,035, Weekend FT, 1 Friday
Street London EC4M 9BT.
Solution and winner’s name on
August 31.
The 13th edition (2014) retains the much-loved features of The Cham-
bers Dictionary, including the unique quirky definitions for certain words.
There are more than 1,000 new words and meanings, and there is also a
new Word Lover’s Ramble, showing how English words and definitions
have changed over the history of the dictionary.
Solution 16,247 Solution 16,236$1'$// 7+$7-$==
% 5 ( ( : 9 ,
818 6(' 3$&,), 67
' ' : 0 7 7 $ +
+2*0$1$< $ &&58(
$ ( < & 6 + < 5
%,5' :$7&+(5
, < $ % 2 5 : 6
63$552: +$:.. - 3 ( 7 0 7 <
2(895( 9(5<:(//
: 1 2 5 5 6 5 ,
75 ,0$5$1 -(7/$*
2 2 & 6 / 2 +
:257+7+( ())257
0($*5( &20326(5
( ) ( 5 $ 3 2
'526 6 , 1&85,2 86
, 5 2 1 + 7 5 7
&+((5,2 (3,67/(
$ 6 7 1 6 $ 5
7($5 0(17$//<
( , 6 5 $ 5
',2&(6$ 1 (&+2
$ & / 7 3 + 7
1,*+7,( ,&('7($
* $ $ 0 2 5 6 7
/,0(*5((1 0$0% 2
( 8 2 1 , $ 5
'(721$7( 67 ,1*<Name..............................................................................................................................
Address.........................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................ACROSS
1 Desire purely, or in a lewd way?
(8)
5 Simulate emotion (6)
9 Roast meat to rear of ship
shunned by sailors (8)
10 Requesting llama skin
Gladstone bags (6)
12 Bondage perversely riveted us
(9)
13 Thrash about and be sick on
floor (5)
14 Have sex with Head of Ethics,
venerable chap (4)
16 Learner driver perhaps not so
drunk (7)
19 Wizard school incorporating
academy for cricket? (7)
21 Setting sun is terrifically
exciting at first (4)
24 Smell of unclothed body sours
(5)
25 Observe angry lioness eating
setter, backside first (9)
27 Husband scratching front of
belly, buttock and thigh (6)
28 Dare to change – simply adapt
again (8)
29 A certain poorly playwright (6)
30 Singular problem for
punctilious person (8)DOWN
1 Famous son of Poland, a
country on the rise (6)
2 Passed on some revolting
pheromones (2,4)
3 Arab banks pulled out of EU
nation (5)
4 Old-fashioned Latvian
regularly mulches plant (7)
6 Female is drunk, grabbing
fellow in punch-up (9)
7 Journalist welcomes man who
washed hands and shaved? (8)
8 African goose let loose (8)
11 Authentic case of egomania in
sport (4)
15 Observed sanctimonious dons
performing miracle (9)
17 Fancy hiding booze in train (4-
4)
18 Criminally sex up second of
dossiers about openness to
danger (8)
20 Half-heartedly finishes small
piece of cake (4)
21 What you do next, leaving
former partner able to pay
debts (7)
22 Uninitiated, curtail bizarre
ceremony (6)
23 People serve up rhubarb for
tutor (6)
26 Pinch bottom of Italian family
doctor (5)
Copies of The Meaning of Everything: The
Story of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon
Winchester, published by Oxford University Press,
will be awarded to the senders of the first three
correct entries opened on Wednesday August 28.
Entries marked Crossword 16,248 on the envelope,
should be sent to Weekend FT, 1 Friday Street,
London EC4M 9BT. Solution on August 31.Winners
Crossword16,236: Mark Cleary, New Jersey, USA;
Adrian Widdowson, London; Myra Cooper, Oxford
Polymath1,033: Elaine Kennedy, DublinBooks
C
harles, king of the Franks, is
undeniablyone of the most
important figures in Euro-
pean history. Known to the
French as Charlemagne and
to the Germans as Karl der Grosse, by
the time of his death in 814, his lands
stretched across much of modern
France and a good proportion of Ger-
many, taking in modern-day Belgium,
Italy south of Naples, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Switzerland and bits of
Austria, Croatia and Slovenia.
A feared warrior, skilled administr-
ator and notably religious man, he was a
giant during a period too often — and
wrongly — referred to as Europe’s “dark
ages”, the two centuries thatfollowed
the fall of the Roman empire in the west.
It has been remarked that this “father
of Europe”, as he is sometimes called,
ruled over territoryroughly equivalent
totoday’sEU.Hiscoronationasemperor
in 800, by the pope no less, thereby init-
iating what later came to bethe Holy
Roman Empire, is citedas an inspiration
for the modern European project. The
annual International Karlspreis/Prix
International de Charlemagne was cre-
ated in 1950and is awarded at Aachen in
the presence of Charles’s tomb to those
deemed to have significantly contrib-
utedtocontinentalpeaceandunity.
But Charles has been appropriated by
other less peaceful causes too, including
those of 12th-century crusaders, who
saw him as a great Christian warrior,
and by Napoleon and Hitler.
Against this backdrop, Janet Nelson
has succeeded in delivering “a new life”
of Charles. Her long-awaitedbiography
invites us to understand the man in
ways that are original and penetrating.
She claims that “more of Charles’s per-
sonality can be known than meets the
eye” and illustrates this by setting out in
detail both the influences that shaped
policy and practice, and anecdotes that
illuminate intimate aspects of personal-
ity and character.
To do this,King and Emperorfffollowsollows
Charles’s life chronologically from his
birth in 748, the eldest son of Pippin the
Short and Bertrada. Nelson justifies thisthe proclaimed civilising mission of
empire — often peace imposed by force
— and thecreation of institutions that
enablepeopletoliveandworktogether.
Charles was a capable practitioner of
both. We are often brought back to the
energy and skill that enabled him suc-
cessfully to rule and conquer such vast
territories when communications were
so slow. All required a remarkable
capacity to project power and to make
himself feared, as well as to inspire trust
and loyalty in distant places.
Charles’smodus operandi“was more
sociable and associative than control-
ling, more naturally familiar than
aloof”. Yet that only went so far. When
required, he could be ruthless and terri-
fying, such as when his troops laid waste
to Aquitaine and Saxony, destroying
livelihoods for more than a generation.
And Nelson’s narratives of the destruc-
tion of King Desiderius of the Lombards
and of Duke Tassilo of Bavaria show just
how merciless he could be.
The book’s many biographically illu-
minating episodes range from the mov-
ing epitaph of the daughter Hildegard
who died young, an indication of deeply
felt grief, to the apparently cruel trick
Charles played on Eadburh, the wid-
owed queen of King Beorhtric of Wessex,
by offering her a marriage either to him
or to one of his sons. Women play a sig-
nificant part in the book. Charles is por-
trayed as demonstrating affection for
Queens Hildegard and Fastrada, both of
whom were politically significant. But
what is described as Charles’s strong sex
drive seems to have involved sexual
relations with servants.
The international dimensions of
Charles’s life are salutary in relation to
the complexities of operating a system of
government across culturally diverse
spaces. The dispatch of writteninstruc-
tionsilluminates how an idealised cen-
tral vision was transmitted. In relation to
present complex European times,King
and Emperoris a reminder that modern
historical orthodoxy regards manyfea-
tures of the English kingdom created
from the time of King Æthelstan
(924-39) onwards as deriving from the
centralised but devolved organisational
model developed by Charles — for Eng-
land’s shires read Carolingianpagi; com-
pare Domesday Book to surveys carried
out for Charles and his successors.
England and Britain were never part
of Charles’ empire, and yet they were
very much part of the Charlemagne and
European stories. This magnificent
book brings alive the man at their heart.David Bates isemeritus professor in
Medieval History at the University
of East AngliaKing and Emperor:
A New Life of
Charlemagne
by Janet L Nelson
Allen Lane £30
704 pagesA portrait of Charles the Great from the Deutsches Historisches
Museum in Berlin— Getty ImagesKing and continent
A magnificent biography
of Charles the Great, whowas known as ‘the father of
Europe’. ByDavid BatesThe sound of a city
A tour of the UK’s regional music scenes places their emergence
against the loss of heavy industry.ByMurray WithersK
arl Whitney has a funny turn
on his way to John Lennon’s
childhood home in Liverpool.
Walking the route that Paul
McCartney would have taken
from his more humdrum suburb, the
writer feels like he is becoming the latter
Beatle, imbuing themoment with the
“unworldly clarity of a saint’s vision”.
The transcendent moment is an out-
lier inHit Factories, Whitney’s story of
how 11 UK cities (none of them London)
produced vibrant pop scenes and bands.
FromLeeds art-rock toBristolian trip-
hop, pop is understood as a mode of
light manufacturing usually created by
working-class artists, something that
could help revive urban centres being
hit by the loss of heavy industry.
Whitneydraws detailed connections
between the key places and people.
Often the sustainability of each city’s
musical success depended on how well
it was able to hold on to its raw materials
— the talented musicians.
The McCartney episode allows him to
reflect on artists’ fictionalised relation-
ship to the working-class areas that
their music allowed them to transcend
and then fix in a nostalgic “strange eter-
nity”. The role of persona is important
too. Even Oasis, whose supposed
authenticity was an essential part of
their marketing, are shown to have a
level of manufactured artifice, “curators
of a certain idea of guitar music charac-
terised by an hour or so of intense man-
ual labour” at a time when automated
dance music was taking over.
He covers Manchester and Liverpool
first, but Dublin-born Whitney is stron-
gest in later chapters on the stories less
well known than Madchester or Mersey-
beat. In Newcastle, we hear of the 1960s
lunchtime clubs set up for growing
ranks of mostly female office workers, acomplement to the edgiernight-time
jazz and blues joints. In Sheffield, he
draws the links between disparate acts
such as Cabaret Voltaire, Pulp and Rich-
ard Hawley. In Hull, artists thrived in a
“bedsit bohemia” but the city’ssmall size
prompted many to leave for London.
Common themes cut across the cities:
the importance of sucking in talent from
the suburbs; the interplay between art-
ists reflecting the romance of and escap-
ing the confines of their area; the prota-
gonists, such as Glasgow’s John William-
son, who played many roles from writer
to promoter to band manager.
Also evident is a tension between
shambolicindie spiritand enterprise.A
little more on what music writer Simon
Reynolds has described as “scenius” —
the “concentration of power and
energy”thatfuels both collaboration
and competition to find the next big
sound — would have deepened our
insight into the personalities.
The cities have unique characteristics
too. While both Bristol and Coventry
reflected multicultural realities, the lat-
ter relied far more on the offspring of
workers who flocked to the once-boom-
ing manufacturing hub.Birmingham’s
heavy rock, bhangra and reggae scenes
developed largely separately of each
other, yet were only a few miles apart.
In Belfast, many ofVan Morrison’s
songs evoked a pre-Troubles “enigmatic
dreamscape”. It is the place most
affected by Brexit, andhe points out that
there is “nothing inevitable about the
connection between a sound and a city”.
Economic and social pressures mean
that migrants can just as easily flow
away from — as well as to — these hubs.
Bands still make this largely northern
industrial rock and pop buttheir popu-
larity is increasingly regionalised and
they struggle to gain the attention of
teenagers tuned into globalised dance
pop. More engagement with music’s role
in therecent evolution of British cities,
built on services, start-ups and links to
universities,would have been welcome.
Whitney acknowledges that much of
this culture is a relic now packaged as
money-spinning cultural heritage — you
can’t move for guided music tours in
some cities. ButHit Factoriesis still a fine
document of a golden era for music in
the UK’s regions.Hit Factories:
A Journey
Through the
Industrial Cities
of British Pop
by Karl Whitney
Weidenfeld &
Nicolson £20
336 pagesapproach on the grounds that it avoids
the teleological, and is the best way to
avoid placing actions and events out of
context. The text is illustrated with
copious translations of contemporary
or near-contemporary sources, ena-
bling the reader to evaluate her account.
Rigorous assessments of difficult evi-
dence are mixed with what feels like
invitations to conversation. Their effect
is to transport readers away from the
eighth and ninth centuries to the 21st —
and into quite a few others as well —
demonstrating the effectiveness of bio-
graphy as a means to understand a
seemingly remote age, a subject on
which Nelson reflects insightfully.
The paradox that anyone who writes
about Charles must confront is thecon-
tradiction between what can be calledKing and Emperor:When all suits are the same
length in dummy as in hand,
this is called “duplication”—
it provides no opportunities
for ruffing or discarding,
and leaves a declarer
seeking inspiration.
West led Q♣; declarer
won, drew trumps and took
the diamond finesse, losing
to East’s Q♦. East led
another diamond and now,
when declarer attacked
hearts, East kept K♥to beat
dummy’s J♥and West kept
A♥to beat South’s Q♥, andachieve this, South should
draw two rounds of trumps,
cash her other top club and
play A♦and K♦and give up
the third round, not
attempting a finesse. Here,
East will win Q♦but, even if
West could win, the position
is the same. Unable to lead
a club or diamond without
giving South a ruff and
discard, the opposition are
forced to lead a heart, hence
sorting out the suit and
ensuring that South loses
only three tricks in total.BRIDGEPAUL MENDELSON
declarer lost all three heart
tricks.
To add to the woes of a
duplicated hand, the heart
suit is “frozen”. If Southplays hearts, she will lose all
three tricks, whereas if she
makes E/W lead the suit,
inevitably one heart honour
will score a trick. South
must set up the hand to
compel E/W to lead hearts
— or concede a ruff and
discard — allowing declarer
to pitch a heart loser. ToDealer: North Love All
North East South West
NB NB 1S NB
3S NB 4SA 10 7 4
J64
KJ5
853ESNWKQ9 6
Q32
A63
AK25
97
10 9 8
68
K
Q
10 4 3J
A 10 8 5
742
QJ972РЕ
ЛИЗ..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ПП
О...............................................................................................................................
О.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ДДГ...............................................................................................................................
Г.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ООТОAddress................................................................................................................
ОAddress................................................................................................................Address................................................................................................................Address................................................................................................................ВВИName.....................................................................................................................Name.....................................................................................................................И
Address................................................................................................................Address................................................................................................................ИName.....................................................................................................................Name.....................................................................................................................ЛЛА
Name.....................................................................................................................А
Name.....................................................................................................................“one string”) (3,5)
А“one string”) (3,5)“one string”) (3,5)“one string”) (3,5)ГГРuse the soft pedal (literally
Рuse the soft pedal (literally
“one string”) (3,5)“one string”) (3,5)Рuse the soft pedal (literally use the soft pedal (literally УУПAn instruction for pianists to
ПAn instruction for pianists to
use the soft pedal (literally use the soft pedal (literally ПAn instruction for pianists to An instruction for pianists to ПП
An instruction for pianists to An instruction for pianists to АА"What's..............................................................................................................................."What's...............................................................................................................................
..............................................................................................................................."What's...............................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................
"What's...............................................................................................................................News"Name.....................................................................................................................News"Name.....................................................................................................................
Address................................................................................................................
News"Address................................................................................................................VK.COM/WSNWSName.....................................................................................................................VK.COM/WSNWSName.....................................................................................................................
Address................................................................................................................VK.COM/WSNWSAddress................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................VK.COM/WSNWS...............................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................VK.COM/WSNWS...............................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................VK.COM/WSNWS...............................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................
VK.COM/WSNWS...............................................................................................................................