The Times - UK (2022-04-30)

the times | Saturday April 30 2022 saturday review 53

possible. For humans, logic dic-

tates that the only winning at-

tempt is to play Qa2 at the right

moment. This must be prepared.

1 Kd1 Computers claim every

move is equally good for White.

Only one plan wins, though. First

the rooks can be improved.

1...Kb6 2 Ke1 Kb5 3 Rg2 Kb6

Black must sit and wait. Taking

the bait makes life simple:

3...hxg2 4 Rg1 gxf1Q+ 5 Kxf1. The

h-pawn will be pushed and the

white army breaks free. 4 Re2

Kb5 Again Black must ignore the

material: 4...dxe2 5 Kxe2 Kb5 6

Kf2 Kb6 7 d3. The white knights

gain access to d2. 5 Kf2 Kb6 6 Re1

Kb5 7 Rc1 Kb6 8 Rg1 Kb5 9 Rg2

Kb6 10 Ke1 Kb5 Resisting temp-

tation: 10...hxg2 11 Kf2. 11 Re2

Kb6 12 Kd1 Kb5 13 Re1 Kb6 14

Rc2 Kb5 Capturing the rook los-

es: 14...bxc2+ 15 Kc1 cxb1Q+ 16

Kxb1 Kb5 17 b3. White’s queen

will escape the bind. Likewise

14...dxc2+ 15 Kc1 followed by

pushing the d-pawn. 15 Kc1 Kb6

Having been led to this position,

the computer will finally spot the

winning plan. 16 Qa2! White is

ready. 16...bxa2 Waiting is now

futile: 16...Kb5 17 Qxb3+ cxb3

(17...axb3 18 a4+ and 19 Na3) 18

c4+ and 19 Nc3. 17 b4! Creating a

protected passed pawn. 17...a1Q

Alternatives also fail: 17...dxc2 18

Kb2! axb1Q+ 19 Rxb1 cxb1Q+ 20

Kxb1 Kb5 21 d3 exd3 22 Nd2. 18

Rb2 Kb5 19 Rd1! Suddenly the re-

sult is clear: Black’s blockade is

broken. 19...Ka6 20 b5+ Kb6 21

Re1. The black queen is redun-

dant. White wins as the b-pawn

will eventually promote.

Winning Move

Black to play. Howell-Stockfish

15, Friendly Game, 2022. As part

of my training regime, I regularly

test myself against the computer.

While defeat is unavoidable,

there is plenty to learn from the

computer’s middlegame mastery.

Can you find the first move of

Black’s winning sequence?

The first correct entry drawn on

Thursday will receive a copy of

Collins English Dictionary and

Thesaurus. The two runners-up

will receive a book prize. Answers

on a postcard to: The Times Win-

ning Move, PO Box 2164, Col-

chester, Essex CO2 8LJ, or email

to: [email protected].

Open to 18+, UK and ROI resi-

dents only. The answer will be

published next Saturday.

Solution to last week’s puzzle:

1...Qxh3+! wins: 2 gxh3 Bf3+ 3

Kh2 Bf4 mate

               

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Anyone who has played Scrabble

will likely have experienced one

of the game’s most common

mishaps on at least one occasion:

picking up the Q straight after

having played the U. The U is

regarded as an unappealing tile

as it combines poorly with other

letters and is only worth one

point. For these reasons, it is

generally advisable to discard the

U promptly. However, if the Q is

unseen, disposal of the U risks a

difficult subsequent rack if one

picks up the Q.

Former US national Scrabble

champion David Wiegand en-

dured this misfortune following

his play using the rack and board

below during the final game of a

tournament in Austin, Texas, last

month.

DLOOOUU

The highest-scoring play

was LOUD (G1d) for 22 points,

which retained the unpromising

OOU. With a 42-point lead,

Wiegand felt that he could afford

to forgo points on this turn and

exchanged all seven of his tiles.

Unfortunately for Wiegand, he

picked DEGNQRS from the bag,

having divested himself of two

U’s on his previous turn. This

classic instance of misfortune

can be a source of frustration but

Wiegand survived this setback

and won the game via a late

bonus word.

The commentary team,

which included former US

national Scrabble champion

Austin Shin, advocated the play

of LOUD to extend the lead.

Imagine if Wiegand had opted

for this move, which would

have retained OOU on the rack.

Following his opponent’s play of

THINNEST (C8d) on the main

board below, can you find the

moves that achieve the target

scores specified, if he had picked

the following racks?

AGNOOQU (42 pts)

mOOQSTU (88 pts)

Definitions

9$87( WRYDXOW

=85) DQRUQDPHQWDOKRW

 FRIIHHFXSKROGHUHVS

 LQWKH0LGGOH(DVW

Collins Official Scrabble Words is the word authority used.

Word positions use the grid reference plus (a)cross or (d)own.

/ double letter square (dl) /triple letter

square (tl)

:double word square (dw) :triple word square (tw)

Letter

values

SRLQW

aeiou

lnrst

SRLQWV

dg

SRLQWV

bcmp

SRLQWV

fhvwy

k 

jx 

qz 

SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark of J. W. Spear & Sons Ltd ©Mattel 2022

Chess David Howell

Solution to Cryptic

Jumbo 1550

The winner is

Mr David Staniforth

of Grenoside,

South Yorkshire

COYPU GR I DDLE SPEARHEAD

OENORENOXE XE

L LANDUDNO NAT I ONAL TRUS T

LRESNORTCADE

A I NTREE SUMMARY TH I NA I R

PDNIIP INTM

SUSPENDEDAN I MAT I ON F I J I

IHV EAEONDON

BLAMELESS TUNDRA V I ENNA

LRLN I TRMS N

EXPLOITATION DELINQUENT

EP I RNTNCUN

BONEMARROW EASTERCACTUS

E EEUPK OLRP

LARYNX ANYONE SYND I CATE

LETGC I AL FNE

YUAN HAVEONES FACE L I F TED

DDLN SHPNC O

AGILITY CHERISH TRANSOM

NNNMHTNAE T LE

CREMEDEMENT HE PUB L I C I S T

ESADS I TPBONE

RES I L I ENT ACOLYTE N I GER

Solution to times2

Jumbo 1550

The winner is

Mr Jon Garvey of

Saltburn-by-the-Sea,

North Yorkshire

Cell Blocks 4458

Suko 3477

Mindset

1. {WALL} — WALL-E
   (Pixar Film); {ARTY, REIN}
   — can be preceded by HE;
   {PLY, MOUTH,
   ATTRACTION} — Plymouth
   HOE; {LEGWEAR, PIPE,
   TUBE, WASH} — synonyms
   for HOSE; {CHAMPION,
   COPENHAGEN, NIJINSKY,
   SILVER, TRIGGER} —
   famous HORSEs.


2. 1 in 11. There are 11 ways in
   which two dice can be
   rolled such that one of them
   is a 6, and only one way
   such that they both are.


3. STARS and STRIPES.
   {GENERAL (US Army
   insignia is STAR), POP
   (precedes STAR), TSAR
   (anagram of STAR)},
   {SERGEANT (US Army
   insignia is STRIPE),
   PIN (precedes STRIPE),
   PRIEST (anagram of

Polygon Roger Phillips

Using the given letters no more than

once, make as many words as possible of

four or more letters, always including

the central letter. Capitalised words,

plurals, conjugated verbs (past tense

etc), adverbs ending in LY, comparatives

and superlatives are disallowed.

How you rate: 16 words average;

22, good; 30, very good; 38, excellent.

Answers to Friday’s Polygon are to the

left. Today’s answers are printed in

MindGames on Monday

Cell Blocks 4459

Divide the grid into square

or rectangular blocks, each

containing one digit only. Every

block must contain the number

of cells indicated by the digit

inside it.

Yesterday’s solution, left

© PUZZLER MEDIA

The winner is Leigh Hughes of

Bootle, Merseyside.

STRIPE)}.

Word Watch: Pollent (c)

Strong (Collins).

Half-seas-over (a) Tipsy

(Chambers).

Tomalley (a) A lobster’s liver

(OED). Izzard (c) The letter Z

(Chambers).

Polygon door, dosh, dough,

dour, good, gosh, gourd, hood,

hour, odor, odour, ours, rood,

rough, shoo, shroud, sough,

sour, sourdough.

Scrabble QUANGO (B2d) —

42 points, MOSQUITO (E3a)

— 88 points.

Literary quiz

1 The Abbess of Crewe

2 The Driver’s Seat

3 Loitering with Intent

4 The Girls of Slender Means

(All were written by Muriel

Spark.)

Cryptic Quintagram

1 Iron 2 Deal 3 Papers

4 Ballroom 5 Reasonable.

/$3,6 $&521<0 &$67$1(76

( ( 3 5 ( 8 ( 5 8 & % &

3$51$6686 5277(1%2528*+

, , * ( ( 6 5 ' 7 2 / /

'2/3+ , 1 75(02/2 5(62/9(

2 ( , 7 5 3 $ 6 , 6

32/,7,&$//<&255(&7 3(5,

7 2 7 ( 5 / $ 7 / 1 1

(**7 ,0(56 +$, 5'2 '2*7$*

5 , : $ < 6 , 6 & (

$1& , (15(*,0( '$5.0$77(5

$ 6 1 , ( / 1 , / +

32/<7+( , 60 )267(53$5(17

/ ( ' ( 9 1 7 1 0 5

$57(5< 3/<,1* ',63$5$*(

1 5 1 1 / & ' $ ( * (

7+$: 3('(675, $1&5266 , 1*

$ 9 6 % 2 6 ' ( 7 2

*5($7(5 *$5277( $6+$0('

( / 5 $ + + $ / 5 ( $ '

1(/6216&2/801 ,0087$%/(

( ( 0. 6 * & 2 ( , ( 6

7(50$*$17 2&($1 , ' &$//6

Scrabble® Paul Gallen

AAAAABBD

EEEE I LLL

LMNNOOOO

PPRRRRS S

1 Irish working in club (4)

2 Business transaction in hammered
lead (4)

3 Page copiers producing documents
(6)

4 One sweeping round everything in
dance hall (8)

5 Inexpensive animated bear on sale
(10)

Solve all five cryptic clues using
each letter underneath once only

---

---

---

---

---

Cryptic Quintagram® Word Watch

David Parfitt

Pollent

a. Having hay fever

b. Of the head

c. Strong

Half-seas-over

a. Tipsy

b. (Of eggs) cooked on

both sides

c. Richly experienced

Tomalley

a. A lobster’s liver

b. A large marble

c. A street cat

Izzard

a. Jam

b. A beekeeper

c. The letter Z

Solve Cryptic Quintagram every weekday online

Go to thetimes.co.uk

Answers below Answers below

Chess and Tech

I recently got my hands on Matt-

hew Sadler’s latest book. The Sili-

con Road to Chess Improvement

(New In Chess, 2021) was an ex-

cellent read, detailing how

humans can learn from develop-

ments in computer chess.

Sadler’s previous release Game

Changer (New In Chess, 2019),

co-written with Natasha Regan,

won multiple accolades. That

treatise on AlphaZero and Artifi-

cial Intelligence was credited

with revolutionising the play of

several grandmasters, making

the hitherto mysterious ideas of

chess engines more accessible.

These days modern chess com-

puters are far stronger than

humans, but there are still posi-

tions that they struggle to under-

stand. Here are two examples

that even Stockfish — the reign-

ing computer world champion —

cannot evaluate accurately.

Composition by William Ru-

dolph. White to play

Turn on your analysis engine,

and you will see the claim that

Black has a winning advantage. A

clever sequence of moves, how-

ever, completely changes the

landscape. 1 Ba4+! This sacrifice

flies under the computer’s radar.

1...Kxa4 The other legal alter-

native, 1...Kc4, runs into a series

of checks: 2 Bb3+ Kb5 3 c4+ Kc6 4

Ba4+. Black loses both his rooks. 2

b3+ Kb5 3 c4+ Kc6 4 d5+ Kd7 5

e6+ Kxd8 6 f5 The key to the

whole concept. It immediately

becomes clear to a human that

this blocked position is a fortress

for White. Black’s extra pieces are

meaningless. A draw is inevitable.

Where logic is required, the

human mind can still compete. In

the example above, even after 6

f5, Stockfish gives Black a deci-

sive plus.

Planning is another area where

computers are often perplexed.

Composition by Paul Lamford.

White to play

This endgame study from 1981

exposes the computer’s limited

horizon. Despite White’s huge

material lead, breaking through

Black’s wall of pawns seems im-

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