SEPTEMBER 7 2019 LISTENER 61
BRIDGE by David Bird
TAKE 5
by Simon ShukerBARDEN’S
CHESS PROBLEMSWordsworth
Contestants were asked for a brief
poem incorporating the phrase
“busy old fool, unruly sun” from John
Donne’s poem The Sun Rising.
Poppy Sinclair, Karori: Busy old fool,
unruly sun,/Is your inconstance just for
fun?/You either raise us with the lark,/Or
leave us stumbling in the dark.
Rex McGregor, Auckland: Busy old
fool, unruly sun,/You love to watch me
swelter./I’ll stymie your sadistic fun/By
seeking shade and shelter.
Paul Kelly, Palmerston North:
Here’s to you, John Donne,/For your
amorous songs and sonnets./Go and
catch a falling star, you said/Your book
of poems sits beside my bed./At school
you were left for Eliot and Pound,/
Auden, too, we had to dissect/To make
sense of the words we’d read./Busy old
fool, unruly sun: I can’t mess with you./
The first poem I loved and you’re still
perfect.
Eileen van Trigt, Greytown: Busy
old fool, unruly sun./Every day your
course is run/Whether to shine on good
or ill/This is the mission you must fulfil.
But To ny Cl e mow of Kamo is the
winner: Busy old fool, unruly sun/you’ve
ruled on Earth since time’s begun/
bathing all in cosmic waves/hastening
hordes to toxic graves./Yet, as you
ply your fiery course/your orb of awe
provides life force:/without you we’d be
truly lost,/from doomsday’s tightrope
duly tossed.
The next competition was inspired
by a recent Twitter thread: send us
a response to the question, “How
old are you?” without mentioning
your exact age. For example: I’m
“riding-to-school-on-a-pony” years old;
or I’m “queueing-outside-an-occupied-
telephone-box-in-the-rain” years old.
Entries, for the prize below, close at
noon on Thursday, September 12.by Gabe Atkinson
Allan Pleasants v John Garnett, British
Championship, Coventry, 2015.
White (to play) is just a pawn ahead, but the
black king is in dire danger. There are several
ways to win, and the simple 1 Bxf7 would
suffice, but Pleasants wanted to finish in style
and unleashed a more spectacular sequence.
How did the game end?
(Answer on page 62.)Love all, dealer SouthWest North East South
— — — 2C
Pass 2NT Pass 3H
Pass 4C Pass 4D
Pass 5C Pass 6H
All Pass
North’s 4C was a cue-bid, agreeing hearts
as trumps and showing the ace or king
of clubs. South cue-bid in diamonds, to
discover more information, and North’s 5C
then showed the king of clubs but denied
the king of spades. South could now bid the
small slam but rule out a grand slam. How
would you play 6H when West leads the
king of diamonds? Declarer played the hand
reasonably well but he might have done
better. He won the diamond lead, crossed
to dummy twice in trumps and ruffed two
diamonds, eliminating that suit. He then
played three rounds of clubs, ending in the
dummy, and led the ten of spades. If West
had held the spade jack, he would have been
end-played after winning with this card. If
East had held the spade king, the slam would
have been made, too. With both these cards
poorly placed, the slam went down. Do you
see the extra chance that declarer missed? He
should have eliminated clubs before leading
the nine of diamonds on the third round of
the suit. When East cannot cover, declarer
can throw a spade from his hand and end-
play West. Three chances are better than two!BIDDING QUIZ
WEST West North East South
♠ A K 8 7 3 — — 1D Pass
♥ 7 5 1S Pass 2D Pass
♦ 6 4?
♣ K J 6 4What will you say now on the West cards?
(Answer on page 62.)EAST
♠
♥
♦
♣WEST
♠
♥
♦
♣
K 8 6
4
K Q J 10 3
10 7 5 4
SOUTH
♠
♥
♦
♣NORTH
♠
♥
♦
♣J 9 7 5
6 5
8 7 4 2
J 9 610 3 2
J 9 8 2
9 6 5
A K 3A Q 4
A K Q 10 7 3
A
Q 8 2Submissions: wordsworth@listener.
co.nz or Wordsworth, NZ Listener,
Private Bag 92512, Wellesley St,
Auckland 1141. Please include
your address. Entries may be
edited for sense or space reasons.WIN THIS
Language expert Max Cryer’s
dictionary sheds light on Kiwi slang,
speech patterns, word origins and
Māori phrases.