New Zealand Listener – June 08, 2019

JUNE 8 2019 LISTENER 61

BRIDGE by David Bird

TAKE 5

by Simon Shuker

BARDEN’S

CHESS PROBLEMS

Wordsworth

Submissions: [email protected]

or Wordsworth, NZ Listener, Private Bag

92512, Wellesley St, Auckland 1141.

Please include your address. Entries may

be edited for sense or space reasons.

This week’s challenge was to provide

new definitions for the following words:

ensorcell, hummock, fleek, bloviate,

flaperon and webinar.

Barry Grant, Christchurch: webinar –

collective déjà vu, often heard in touring

groups, as in “webinar before”.

Bridget Forbes, Wellington: webinar

• reluctance to retrieve one’s possessions
  from a spider-infested attic.
  Daphne Tobin, Porirua: fleek – a
  vegetable you really dislike (originally a
  contraction of “It’s a f---ing leek!”).
  Poppy Sinclair, Karori: flaperon – an
  apron used for waving under a smoke alarm.
  Nozz Fletcher, Waikawa: flaperon – a
  marathon Charleston competition taking
  place over a weekend.
  Tania We lls, Dunedin: ensorcell – to
  mask the unpleasant taste of an expired
  meat pie by smothering it in ketchup.
  Martyn Brown, Christchurch: bloviate


• to preserve the shell of a bird’s egg by
  evacuating its contents.
  Paul Kelly, Palmerston North: bloviate


• to drift far off course in a hot-air balloon.
  Oliver Redfern, Hamilton: hummock


• noun for a crowd of sports fans required
  to sing the second verse of our national
  anthem.
  Bill Stead of Poroti: flaperon – a loosely
  tied tarpaulin on a trailer being towed at
  excessive speed.
  But the winner is David Wort, Bay of
  Plenty: fleek (Australian employment law)


• summary dismissal, as in, “His boss gave
  him the fleek.”
  For the next contest, send us a racy or
  otherwise misleading title for a boring
  book (either real or imagined). You may
  demonstrate the book’s dullness by
  adding a subtitle or providing a brief
  description. For example: The Man with
  the Large Package: Recollections of a
  FedEx delivery agent. Entries, for the
  prize below, close at noon on Thursday,
  June 13.

by Gabe Atkinson

Wei Yi v Anne Haast, Tata Steel Wijk aan

Zee B, 2014

China’s Wei Yi has rewritten the record books

as he advances up the world rankings. The

Beijing teenager has a sharp tactical flair

shown in today’s puzzle diagram, for which

he sacrificed rook for knight. Black’s position

still looks defensible, but Wei now unleashed

a three-move sequence leading to checkmate

or loss of the queen. Can you do as well?

(Answer on page 62.)

Game all, Dealer South

West North East South
— — — 1S
Pass 2 S Pass 4S

All Pass

Despite holding perfect shape, West was not
worth a take-out double on his 11-count.
That’s because the ace of spades was not
pulling much weight for its four points.
How would you play the spade game when
West leads the jack of diamonds? You can
see two trump losers and a further potential

loser in each red suit. The best chance is to

discard a diamond loser on the fourth heart

in dummy. You should win the diamond lead

in your hand, preserving the diamond king

as a later entry to dummy. You then play ace,

king and another heart. This would set up a

heart winner in dummy if the suit broke 3-3.

It succeeds also when East holds a doubleton

honour, as here. West wins the third round

of hearts and plays another diamond. You

win with dummy’s king and lead the good

10 of hearts from dummy. If East ruffs low,

you overruff and play a trump, crashing

the ace and king. If East were to discard, or

ruff high with the king, you would discard

your diamond loser. There is nothing the

defenders can do. This is one of the situations

where you should not draw trumps straight

away – when you need to set up a discard for

a side-suit loser.

BIDDING QUIZ

WEST West North East South

♠ K J 7 2 — 3C Dble Pass

♥ Q 9 5 3?

♦ A 6

♣ 8 5 4

Partner’s double is for take-out. What will

you say now on the West cards?

(Answer on page 62 .)

EAST

♠

♥

♦

♣

WEST
♠
♥
♦
♣

A

Q 9 8 7

J 10 9 5

K J 9 7

SOUTH

♠

♥

♦

♣

NORTH

♠

♥

♦

♣

K 2

J 3

Q 3 2

10 8 6 5 3 2

J 7 6 4

10 6 4 2

K 7 6

Q 4

Q 10 9 8 5 3

A K 5

A 8 4

A

WIN THIS

Jo Pratt’s collection of

fish recipes ranges from

snacks, soups and curries

to mains and salads, with

a helpful guide to fish

preparation.