The Observer
SUDOKU SOLUTIONS 25.08.19 551471815131716103326941731201116141411172527614S1
C2
H3
M4
UT5
T6
E7
RD8
S9
B10M11
YO I DW12
ANHOPE
ABWM V13
ERT ICES
S14
OLONE T E S15
KEO
HR16
O SETINTEDT
A17
GHAS18
T19
S T S20
NOT
N21
U22
F23
F A H H24
EC25
A T26
E
DP27
LANET28
A RIAD
G29
LADG G H P30
OW31
IN
R32
INGROADN A G E
A33
NGLIANF34
ELLS
BEE P35
ATENTEESKiller
Azed No. 2,463 ‘Jigsaw’
Chess by Jonathan Speelman
Azed No. 2,460 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 11, comp. anag.; 15, comp. anag.; 21, hidden rev.; 24, c in heate(d); 32,
anag. incl. a; 33, alternate letters in anan (qv); 34, fell + s; 35, paten + Tees.
Down 1, i.e. anag. of and grab = a brigand less I; 2, by (rev.) in corg(i); 9, s peed o;
10, anag. incl. 0 in Bess, & lit.; 19, ego in that; 22, in in (co)uple; 23, fag alternat-
ing with LNE; 25, c + tenor (rev.); 26, cf. aiglet; 31, (S)wale (N. Yorks river).
Rules and requests
£25 in book tokens for the first three correct solutions opened.
Solutions postmarked no later than Saturday to:
Azed No. 2,463, The Observer, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU.Azed No. 2,460 prizewinners
TWEET
1 M. Barley (Rivermeade, Romsey Road, Ower, Hampshire SO51 6AF): Post we put
on net (there’s no Chambers entry for noun) (post we net less pos n, & lit.; ref. entry
in Chambers Dictionary).
2 J. C. Leyland ( Marsden, Huddersfield ): Dinky toys eschewed by grandkids for activ-
ity on iPad? (twee t(oys)).
3 Mrs A. M. Walden ( High Wycombe ): Bird when small expresses one (tit with wee
for I, & lit.).
VHC D. Appleton, E. Dawid, V. Dixon (Ireland), Dr M. Ewart, R. J. Heald, M. Lloyd-
Jones, B. Lovering, T. J. Moorey, C. Reid Dick (Germany), T. Rudd, Dr S. J. Shaw, C.
Short, I. Simpson, P. Tharby, J. R. Tozer, J. Vincent & Ms R. Porter, L. Ward (USA), T.
West-Taylor. ANNUAL CONSOLATION PRIZES (13 competitions): T. C. Borland, N.
Connaughton, A. J. Whittaker, Ms S. Wallace, A. J. Wardrop, T. J. Moorey, C. A. Clarke,
V. Dixon, J. Grimes, B. Lovering, K. & J. Wolff.Clues, which are normal, are presented in
alphabetical order of their solutions. Solvers
must determine where each is to go in the
diagram.1 You may fi nd a lump liquidized in this
vessel
2 Brief time in small early section
dictionary, pulsating
3 Arranged to have hearses around for
lists
4 Exorcists snare fi rst sign of satanism
5 Caught angel slipping, admitting off ence- purifi cation required
6 Pie thrown, stool for the penitent soak
7 Pile of sand required by gardeners
8 Refusal to conform involved me with
direst sins
9 Sung note one’s hit, that is rolled around
10 Record Keats unusually receives in
poetry
11 Former lodging showing class earl
occupies for nothing
12 Corn cookie, one turning up wrapped in
tripe
13 With layers applied thickly over, in
modern clothes
14 Listen out for sounds
15 Hard kiln crumbles – I melt outside
16 Child receiving name Ray family no
longer used
17 It’s clear I had lost paperback
18 Sorghum: some that’s processed girl
swallowed
19 Riparian folk gather as harvest,
returning plenty
Name
Address
Post code
20 Grain measure heading for capital fully
shifted
21 Odd name changed includes name
shortened whenever required (2 words)
22 Flops with MP lacking positive quality
23 Pop, humdinger, about right as
accompaniment for Chinese meal (2
words)
24 Give fresh appraisal of dimwits
occupying reservation
25 Decline former advice about Church
26 Profl igate fellow with nothing – job for
the bailiff s?
27 A gale like this can scatter spa in terror
28 Old angler making list that includes dace
(not of highest quality)
29 Sort of Chinese clothing, outer garment
for Malaysian
30 Cuttlefi sh eggs skink rolled round East
Indian city (2 words)
31 What a glacier may become is worrying
when reversed
32 Recipe included cuts off prunes (long
forgotten)
33 Observe uprising regularly alternating
with explosive doctrines
34 Pupil poorly educated, in a heap
35 Commands in confl ict not specifi ed
36 Scots over there in Grimsby, OntarioEvery answer is in The Chambers
Dictionary (2014).Diagram 1
Nepomniachtchi played 77 Kc4. Why
was this a terrible blunder (see end)?Th e seventh Sinquefi eld Cup is moving
towards its conclusion in St Louis
with the eighth of 11 rounds today. I’ll
be commentating live on twitch.tv/
jonspeelman from 7pm onwards and
also on rounds nine tomorrow and 11
on Wednesday.
Th e early stages of the cup were
hard fought but saw the 12 players
cancelling each other out, with just a
single decisive fi nish in rounds one to
three, in the diagram right. Th is was
perhaps a tad regrettable but we are (or
I am) pretty certain that with “perfect
play” a game of chess should end in a
draw and the world’s best players are
strong enough to make it really hard to
beat them, even when things have gone
wrong. Th ere are, of course, games of
which the result is known with perfect
play: for instance 8x8 draughts is a
draw. But solving chess is beyond
current technology. And while part of
the pleasure of watching mind sports
can be the virtual bloodshed, good
tough draws are also great fun.
Magnus Carlsen seems to have
recovered from his horrible spell in
the rapidplay/blitz that preceded the
Sinquefi eld but isn’t in blistering form
either. His game in round three against
Fabiano Caruana was intriguing.Magnus Carlsen v Fabiano Caruana
Sinquefi eld Cup 2019
Queen’s Gambit Declined Vienna Variation1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 Nc3dxc4 5 e4 Bb4 6 Bxc4 In this trendy
line, White sacrifi ces his e-pawn for
the initiative.
6 ... Nxe4 7 0-0 Nf6 7 ... Nxc3 8 bxc3
Be7 (8 ... Bxc3 is a bit much) is the main
line while the bishop can also retreat
with 8 ... Bd6. Caruana tried the latter
twice in 2016 but lost games to both
Veselin Topalov and Hikaru Nakamura
before switching to 7...Nf6.
8 Qa4+ Nc6 9 Ne5 Bd6 A novelty.
Caruana had twice tried 9 ... Rb8
10 d5 exd5 11 Nxd5 Nxd5 12 Nxc6 bxc6
13 Qxc6+ playing 13 ... Qd7 against
Levon Aronian in 2018 and 13 ... Bd7
against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov this
year and holding both, but Carlsen was
surely ready to try to torture him.
10 Nxc6 bxc6 11 Qxc6+ Bd7 12 Qf3
0-0 13 Bg5 h6 14 Bh4 Rb8 15 b3 Rb6
16 Ne4 Be7 17 Nxf6+ Bxf6 18 Bxf6
Qxf6 19 Qxf6 gxf6 Black has quite
a bad pawn structure but decent
development and will try to get in
... a5-4 to diff use the queenside.
20 d5 e5 More combative than
20 ... Rd6 21 dxe6 Bxe6 which is
certainly better for White.
21 Rfc1 a5 22 Be2 c6 23 dxc6 Rxc6
24 Rxc6 Bxc6 25 Rc1 Bd7 26 Rc5 I was
expecting 26 Rc7 Rd8 27 Ra7 but after
27...a4 28 bxa4 Be6 29 h3 Rd2 30 Bb5
Rxa2 31 a5 Kg7 32 a6 Ra5 Black seems
to be OK.
26 ... Ra8 27 f4!? Giving up a pawn
temporarily to anchor the bishop on f3.
27... exf4 27... e4? 28 f5 would be bad.
If 28 ... e3 29 Kf1 White should with
care be able to surround the e-pawn
with a winning position.
28 Bf3 Ra6 29 Kf2 Be6 30 Be2 Ra8
31 Bf3 Ra6 32 Bb7 Ra7 33 Be4521647938684329571397851462216598743479213685835476129758962314142735896963184257Diagram 2
33 ... Kg7 Black wants to play a4 but
gets the king off the back rank fi rst. In
fact 33 ... a4 and if 34 b4 a3! is OK but
not 34 ... Bxa2? 35 b5 when Ra5 fails to
36 Rc8 with check.
34 Kf3 a4 35 Bc2 Now 35 b4? Bxa2
36 b5 would lose to Ra5! since there’s
no check any more.
35 ... axb3 36 Bxb3 Rb7 37 Kxf4 Bxb3
38 axb3 Rxb3 39 g3 Rb4+ 40 Kf3
Rb3+ 41 Kf4 Rb4+ 42 Kf3 Rb3+ 43 Kf4
And they agreed the draw.Diagram 3
Black is worried about the a6 pawn
and found a cute tactic to simplify.
24 ... Nf4!? 25 Qxf4 Rxd3 26 Rc8+ If
26 exd3 Qxc5 27 Rxa6 g6 28 Qf6 Rb8
29 Qc3 Qxc3 30 bxc3 Rb1+ 31 Kg2 Rd1
Black is just about OK but Ding might
well have tried it.
26 ... Rd8 27 Rac4 h6 28 R4c6 Rxc8 29
Rxc8+ Kh7 30 Qe4+ f5 31 Qc4 Qb3 32
Qxb3
If 32 Qxa6 Qd1+ 33 Kg2 Qd5+ Black is
absolutely fi ne. White must then avoid
34 Kh3? Rxb2 35 Re8?? Qh1 36 Qxe6
Qf1+ 37 Kh4 g5+ 38 Kh5 Qh3 mate.
32 ... Rxb3 33 Rc6 Rxb2 34 Rxe6 a5
35 Ra6 Rxe2 36 Rxa5 Kg6 37 Ra6+ Kh7
38 Ra5 Kg6 39 Ra6+ Kh7 40 Ra5 And
they shook hands.In diagram 1, after 77 Kc4?? b5+! Nepo
resigned since 78 axb6ep Nxb6 is
check and 78 ... Rxa7 follows. Instead
77 Kc5 Rd7 78 Ra8 followed by a6
would eliminate the last pair of pawns,
though Black would still have to suff er
in the drawn but mildly unpleasant (R v
R+B is much worse) R v R+N.1 Ian
Nepomniachtchi
(to play) v
Viswanathan
Anand2 Magnus Carlsen
v Fabiano Caruana
(to play)3 Ding Liren v
Wesley So (to play)