The Observer - 04.08.2019

The Observer

SUDOKU SOLUTIONS 04.08.19 55

15

21

21

9

21

16

26

12

16

25

9

15

8

17

18

21

13

15

15

13

15

21

15

4

10

14

A

1

PT

2

ER

3

I

4

S

5

M

6

S

7

OL

8

A

9

S

10

A

11

RKYN

12

OACHIC

C

13

LAGO S R J U

14

L VA

ATI S

15

KIBOBBER

R

16

ONCADORAP

17

R I

IRI

18

N NERSPACE

19

D

20

INIT

21

R O

22

G

23

E NOT

C

24

L G B

25

I

26

M BECILE

A

27

IRENG

28

INEC O R

R

29

ETEHO T T A

30

LUN

O

31

VERAGEO

32

P ERA

M

33

OLYT

34

ORO IDAL

Killer

Azed No. 2,460 Plain - Competition Puzzle

Chess by Jonathan Speelman

Azed No. 2,457 solution & notes

Normal Sudoku rules

apply, except the

numbers in the cells

contained within grey

lines add up to the

figures in the corner.

No number can be

repeated within each

shape formed by the

grey lines.

Across 7, sol + a; 13, c + lag; 15, bob in anag.; 20, anag. incl. ir(on); 26, MB + lice

(rev.) in i.e.; 27, n in anag.; 29, (disc)rete; 30, hidden; ref. A. Wyn Jones, Welsh RU

player; 31, cf. average; 33, last letters & lit.

Down 1, scar in aid; 3, y OK in ran; 4, ins (h)ide; 6, jam (rev.) + (h)ors(e); 7, cub^2

in SA; 9, anag. less ME; 17, i.e. panic-led; 21, in in that; 22, o(r)biter; 24, mora c.

(rev.); 25, ref. Wallace B.; 28, Gogo(l).

Rules and requests

Send correct solution (one only) and clue to replace definition asterisked (on

separate sheet also bearing name and address, securely attached) to Azed No.

2,460, PO Box 518, Oxford, OX2 6WX. Entries should be postmarked no later

than Saturday. Please add a brief explanation of your clue (one entry only). £35,

£30, £25 prizes and Azed bookplates for the three clues judged best. The Azed

slip, containing details of successful competition entries and Azed’s comments, is

available on subscription at £16 a year. Cheques, payable to the Azed Slip, should

be sent to The Azed Slip, Coombe Farm, Awbridge, Romsey SO51 0HN. To receive a

sample slip, please send an sae to this address.

Azed No. 2,457 prizewinners

Ian Storey, Sheffield

Perdita Broadfoot, Didcot, Oxon

Mark Dobson, Abbeymead, Gloucester

Across

1 Clothing in school leading to

grumble (9)

11 A trim body, rippling? Could be brat, so

muscly (5)

12 Th e old despair with a phone that’s out

of order (7)

13 Green tops? Th e tops indeed (8)

14 Sage unaccompanied by that last bit of

onion (5)

15 A tin shed like this? Ikea’s not

involved (4)

16 With resin applied and money invested,

off ering over-optimistic prospects (10)

17 Horror-struck commanders facing end

of engagement (6)

20 One commands no respect, plenty

being withdrawn (4)

21 Section in buff uniform wheeling

satisfyingly (4)

24 Mysterious goddess, endlessly angry

but cold inside (6)

27 Design song about extraterrestrial

orreries? (10)

29 What’s youngster after end of

fagging? (4)

30 Showy bird making an impact after

entering (5)

32 Heart in theatre grind or suff ering

bypass? (8, 2 words)

33 Early dialect I don’t understand,

including odd elements of Gallic (7)

34 High moorland was ruined by spades (5)

35 Plate by river showing those that may

expect royalties? (9)

Name

Address

Post code

Down

1 Robbery with violence: do this to fi nd a

brigand? Not I (12)

2 Robot dog I avoided by rearing inside (6)

3 H-hooter making one laugh (4)

4 Month in Siam wandering round for

fl owering plant (6)

*5 Chirp (5)

6 It’s associated with trash being fl ogged,

blowzy (7)

7 Understanding what gets pair of nets

entangled with barge’s stern (7)

8 Weed in the Munros maybe, conked

out (6)

9 Clock in square went round (6)

10 What’s sent Ted crazy with love,

captivated by Liz? (12)

18 Punch causing blood to spread from

below (7)

19 Sign which restricts

self-confi dence (7, 2 words)

22 Pair wanting company going round in

what commuters take? (6)

23 Drudgery alternating with former rail

company, widen out (6)

25 Constant upward drift? It was especially

noticeable in shires (6)

26 Tag, last to take the lead in Highland

trudge (6)

28 King’s companion in Elizabethan

England (5)

31 Th e best of northern England, one of its

rivers, if not the fi rst (4)

The Chambers Dictionary (2014) is

recommended.

Diagram 1

After 30 g4 Mamedyarov resigned.

Why didn’t he at least try 30... Nc3?

(See the end.)

Th is comes from the rapidplay section

of the Paris leg of this year’s Grand

Chess Tour (GCT). Th e 10 warriors,

basically all of the boys except for

Magnus Carlsen, played nine rounds

of rapidplay culminating on Monday,

and after a rest day on Tuesday,

18 rounds of blitz on Wednesday

and Th ursday. As in previous GCT

events, the rapidplay counts double

(so 2, 1 or 0 for a win, draw, or loss

rather than the usual 1, 0.5, 0 ) and

the scores from the two disciplines

are added together to give the fi nal

standings. Th ese will be discussed

next weekend, but for the moment I

can say that Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

won the rapidplay with 13/18 (or

6.5/9 in normal currency) ahead of

Alexander Grischuk on 12 and Ian

Nepomniachtchi and Viswanathan

Anand 10.

I commentated (at twitch.tv/

jonspeelman) on two of the rapidplay

days and the fi rst last Saturday was

a particular joy, as the young Pole

Jan-Krzysztof Duda was playing like

a maniac, especially in the wonderful

game below, Grischuk’s only

rapidplay loss.

Th e British Championships have

been taking place in Torquay, fi nishing

today. Michael Adams and David

Howell were very much the pre-

tournament favourites and after four

of the nine rounds they were two of

fi ve leaders on 3.5/4.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda v

Alexander Grischuk

Paris 2019

Reti

1 Nf3 d5 2 c4 d4 Th e most critical reply

to the pure Reti move order (as here).

3 b4 f6 4 e3 e5 5 c5 If Black is allowed

to settle, then he will have a strong

pawn centre, so White is more or less

obliged to stir up trouble.

5... a5 Th e most critical though 5... d3

6 Qb3 (6 Nxe5 fxe5 7 Qh5+ Ke7

8 Qxe5+ Kf7 seems to be insuffi cient)

6... e4 7 Nd4 is also very unclear.

6 Qa4+ Qd7 If 6... Bd7 7 b5 Bxc5 8 Bc4

White has lost a pawn, but Black can’t

castle for the foreseeable future.

7 Bb5 c6 8 Bc4 Ne7 9 exd4 e4 10 b5

Nb4 If 10... exf3 11 bxa6 fxg2 12 Rg1

Qe7+ 13 Be2 Bg4 14 Nc3 White has a

nice advantage while 10... Nc7 11 bxc6

Qxc6 12 Qxc6+ bxc6 13 Ng1 is also

pleasantly better for White.

11 a3 exf3 12 axb4 Qxd4 13 d3 Qe5+

14 Be3 fxg2 15 Rg1

Diagram 2

When I looked this up, I was a bit

surprised to see that it had all been

played before between two crazy

Swedish grandmasters , Tiger Hillarp-

Persson v Jonny Hector , in Copenhagen

in 2014. Th ey reeled on 15... Qxh2

16 bxc6 Qxg1+ 17 Kd2 b5 18 cxb6 Bxb4+

19 Nc3 Qh2 20 b7 Rb8 21 c7+ Kf8 22

cxb8Q Qxb8 23 bxc8Q+ Qxc8 24 Rg1

h5 25 Rxg2 h4 26 Qb5 Ne7 27 Kc2 h3

28 Rh2 Qc7 29 Nd5 Nxd5 (29 Qxh2

30 Nxe7 Kxe7 31 Qb7+ Kd6 32 Bb6)

30 Qxd5 g5 31 Rxh3 Rxh3 32 Qg8+ Ke7

33 Qe6+ and Black resigned.

127396458

539478162

684215397

496723581

853169274

271854936

315682749

748931625

962547813

1234 567 89 10

11 12

13

14 15

16

17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28

29 30 31

32

33 34

35

15... Nd7 16 Nd2 16 Rxg2 was eminently

sane and strong to boot.

16... Bd7 17 bxa5 Nd5 18 d4 Qxh2 19 Nf3

Qh5 20 a6! White is winning on the

queenside but losing on the kingside,

so he has to press on.

20... Be7 20... Nxe3 21 axb7 Rxa4

22 b8Q+ Ke7 23 Qd6+ Kd8 24 Qb8+

Ke7 (24... Bc8 25 Qb6+ is bad) is one of

numerous lines that end in perpetual

check for one side or the other.

21 axb7! Rxa4 22 Rxa4 22 b8Q+? would

be very bad after Kf7 23 Qxh8 Rxa1+

24 Kd2 Rxg1 25 Nxg1 cxb5.

22... 0-0 Grischuk had a tough choice

here between castling and Kf7. Both

should in fact lead to a draw “with

best play”, but in a game you couldn’t

possibly be sure.

23 Ra8 Re8? A mistake, losing a crucial

tempo. 23...cxb5 24 Bb3 Qxf3 25 Rxf8+

Bxf8 26 b8Q Bg4 27 Qxb5 h5 28 Kd2

Kh8! should apparently lead to a draw.

24 Kd2! Getting off the e-fi le so as

to prepare Bf4 without there being a

discovered check.

24... Kf8 If 24... cxb5 25 Rxe8+ Bxe8

26 Bb3 and b8=Q follows.

25 Rxe8+ Qxe8 26 Bxd5 Bd8 If 26...cxd5

27 Bf4 Or 26... Qb8 27 bxc6 Bg4 28 Ra1.

27 Bf4 Ba5+ 28 Kd1

Diagram 3

With absolutely no defence against

b8=Q, Grischuk resigned.

In diagram 1 after30 g4 Mamedyarov

resigned, since if 30... Nc3 31 Rh5+!

gxh5 32 g5 mate! Th e best Black can

do is 30... Kh7 31 h5 Rb8, but White

snaps off the g6 pawn, and two up, has

an easy win.

1 Daniil Dubov (to

play) v Shakhriyar

Mamedyarov

2 Jan-Krzysztof

Duda v Alexander

Grischuk (to play)

3 Jan-Krzysztof

Duda v Alexander

Grischuk (to play)

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