The Times - UK (2022-01-01)

the times | Saturday January 1 2022 saturday review 49

lished a powerful passed pawn,

but any further advance is still a

distant prospect. 22 Bd6 Rd8 23

c4 g5 24 Kc2 Rac8 25 Rhd1 a5 26

Be7 Rxd5 27 Rxd5 e2 28 Kd2 Rc6

29 Bxg5 Not 29 Kxe2? Re6+.

29...Re6 30 Bh4 Bb2 31 Rxa5

Re3 32 Rg5+ Kh8 33 Rf5 Bc3+ 34

Kc2 e1Q 35 Bxe1 Bxe1 36 Rxf4

Despite being forced to give up

his bishop, Anand’s rook has

hoovered up the black pawns.

36...Bb4 37 c5! An instructive

moment. 37 Re4 Rc3+ 38 Kb2 is

favourable for White, although

after 36...Rd3 some calculation is

required to contain the activity of

the black rook. Anand is happy to

part with one pawn in order to

trade rooks and simplify his task.

37...Bxc5 38 Re4 Forcing the ex-

change. 38...Rxe4 39 fxe4 Kg7

40 a4 A rare material imbalance

has arisen. The white pawns

slowly overwhelm the black

forces. 40...Kf6 41 Kd3 Ke5 42 a5

Bg1 43 h3 Kd6 44 b4 Bf2 45 g4 h6

46 Kc4 Be1 47 a6 Bf2 48 h4 Kc7

49 g5 Black resigns. There are

simply too many pawns.

Winning Move

Black to Play. Sethuraman-L Van

Foreest, Sitges 2021. Black needs

to find something special before

his material deficit becomes deci-

sive. Can you spot the star move,

utilising all of Black’s pieces to

win the game?

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 December 18 puzzle:

1 Re8+! wins material: 1...Rxe8

(1...Kg7 2 Qxd8) 2 Qxd6.

               

$ % & ' ( ) * + , -. / 0 1 2

z o o t y

o

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r a

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:   /    :    /   :

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   /    /  /    / 

:           /   :

   /    /  /    / 

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          :   

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:   /    :    /   :

            

) * + , -. / 0 1 2

Z I N C O

I

N

K A T

E X E

N

T



    /    /    /

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          /  

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    /    /    /

:

/:

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/:

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An error by an opponent

can produce unusual board

positions where one needs to

be adaptable in order to find

the best move. Consider the

rack and board extract below.

First, can you find the guessable

valid seven-letter bonus word?

Second, what would you

play with a 32-point lead in

response to your opponent’s

play of TENT (K6d) for 23

points? You should consider the

implications of the opponent’s

recent move before making

your decision.

DEHINRU

This a position from the

semi-final of the 2021 Wespa

Championship between the

eventual champion Alastair

Richards and his opponent

Peter Kougi. It was Kougi who

played TENT, a move that

had two drawbacks. First of

all, did you spot that the play

created an invalid three-letter

word EXE*? Second, TENT

possesses two back hooks other

than the S, namely Y and the

easily overlooked H, and Kougi

did not hold any of these letters

on his rack.

It is widely accepted that in

almost all circumstances one

should challenge an opponent’s

invalid move, as an upheld

challenge will result in the loss

of a turn for the opponent.

However, Kougi’s invalid play

of TENT created a lucrative

area for Richards’s seven-

letter word, which would have

scored 29 more points than

the alternative placement at

I8a and would have opened

fewer scoring opportunities for

Kougi. On this basis, Richards

accepted Kougi’s invalid move

and played his bonus word in

row O.

Should you challenge your

opponent’s play of EAUX

involving the invalid RA* on

the main board position below

with the following rack?

CLOSUUY

Definitions

=,1&2 DSULQWLQJSODWHPDGH

 XVLQJ]LQFRJUDSK\

=227< VKRZ\RVWHQWDWLRXV

=2552DJUH\KDLUHGZLOG

 FDQLQHDQLPDO

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 1530

The winner is

Gavin Hodgson of

Mickleton,

Gloucestershire

CLEMENCY PROTON PLAST I C

OMX U Z U E E U DRO

SMOKESCREEN LEGERDEMA I N

STCKSAEL I LDS

AD I EU OUTCROP EX TREM I S T

COTO I HCA TA

KON T I K I D I SCONT I NUAT I ON

LONEKNF POT

LIEINSTATE BEMUSE PANG

ES HRDBLDLAS

V I S I BL EHOR I ZON G I GAF LOP

ILNPSODNUI

TOPLEVEL FEATHERBEDD I NG

YRNSDNHSU NO

POND THENCE D I SRESPECT

SVE LHCGGYB

PROCRAS T I NAT I ON HUNDRED

LC UBNT TC I R

AVA I LABLE TRACHEA OBAMA

TT I LRMTUTPT I

TRIUMVIRATE INFATUATION

EOBMTNOFOTOE

RANSOME EX T END GOVERNOR

Solution to times2

Jumbo 1530

The winner is

Frank Pattison

of Southwater,

West Sussex

Cell Blocks 4356

Suko 3375

Mindset

1 Missing letters in each

sentence spell FEET, YORK,

LING. These words can be

preceded by HAPPY NEW

YEAR.

2 2022. (1014-510=504.

2022=1014+504+504)

3 HOGMANAY.{GROUND

precedes HOG, PIG is a

synonym for HOG, WARTS

follows HOG}; {BAT precedes

MAN, MALE is a synonym

for MAN, FRIDAY follows

MAN}; {BOMB precedes AY,

YES is a synonym for AY,

CARAMBA follows AY}.

Word Watch

Boyg (a) An ogre (in Norse

mythology) (Collins).

Cabbage (a) To cheat or steal

(Chambers).

Wevet (b) A cobweb (OED).

Étrenne (b) A new year’s gift

(OED).

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: 18 words average;

24, good; 31, very good; 38, excellent.

Answers to Friday’s Polygon are to the

left. Today’s answers are printed in

MindGames on Monday

Cell Blocks 4357

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 Richard Green of

Llangynidr, Powys.

Polygon

cast, chat, clast, cyst, halt,

hasty, last, latch, lath, malt,

malty, mast, match, math,

maty, myth, salt, salty, scat,

schmaltz, schmaltzy, slat,

slaty, smalt, stay, tach, talc,

talcy, tash, yacht.

Scrabble UNHIRED (O4a)

— 94 points or (I8a) — 65

points; You should accept the

move and play RAUCOUSLY

(K4a) — 78 points as options

after challenging the invalid

move are unappealing (COSY

at M2a for 33 points being the

highest scorer, keeping the

ugly LUU).

Literary quiz 1 AA Milne.

2 Ernest Hemingway.

3 Georgette Heyer.

4 Agatha Christie.

Cryptic Quintagram

1 Coffer 2 Hardly 3 Intern

4 Madcap 5 Eldorado.

2875 , *+7 %86783 7$&7)8/

) + 1 , 6 1 + 2 + 8 2 (

)5(1&+72$67 257+237(5$1

% 5 / % * : 8 7 5 , : ,

(/$7( (5$6,1* (<(675$,1

$ 3 0 / 6 + 5 $ 5 ,

7+(5(72 087$7 , 6087$1' , 6

8 1 : , 6 5 % / 3 7

5$7$7$77$7 5(*$/( <($+

8 , + 2 2 $ 5 $ 6 6 6

/,&.21(6:281'6 ,5,6+6($

, & % 6 7 , 2 7 8 &

1,&(7,(6 '2:1 , 17+(0287+

* ( $ / 6 ) * ) 6 1 (

618* 75867< 727+(32,17

, 7 2 1 + & 2 $ 5 0

6+5,1.,1*9,2/(7 75,33(5

7 ( / / 6 2 7 & 2 (

$8675$/ , $ :$67$*( (152/

1 7 $ 1 6 2 ( 5 5 / 7 $

%5$, 17($6(5 6,*1,),&$17

8 * & 6 ( / ( 2 1 6 1 (

/((&+(6 6('$7( $* , 7$7('

Scrabble® Paul Gallen

AAAACCDD

DDEEEFFH

ILLMNNOO

OPRRRRTY

1 Chest, tender following cold (6)

2 Only just daring to cross lake (6)

3 Wearing spell, we hear, for US
medical student (6)

4 Foolish better, impulsive (6)

5 Loaded, or otherwise, in place of
great wealth (8)

Solve all five cryptic clues using
each letter underneath once only

---

---

---

---

---

Cryptic Quintagram® Word Watch

David Parfitt

Boyg

a. An ogre

b. A wall of ice

c. A Dutch narrowboat

Cabbage

a. To cheat or steal

b. A transport tax

c. A gurn or grimace

Wevet

a. A young newt

b. A cobweb

c. A female hare

Étrenne

a. A narrow ladder

b. A new year’s gift

c. Mortal beings

Solve Cryptic Quintagram every weekday online

Go to thetimes.co.uk

Answers below Answers below

Chess in 2022

Happy new year!

This year, let us all make a re-

solution to play as much chess as

possible. 2022 promises a steady

flow of tournaments — both on-

line and over-the-board. Mean-

while for those eager to learn and

improve, a number of high quali-

ty chess books are set to be re-

leased in the coming months.

One of the final events of 2021

was the Gashimov Memorial.

Eight grandmasters met in Azer-

baijan to celebrate the memory of

Vugar Gashimov, who passed

away in 2014. The evergreen Vis-

wanathan Anand — now 52 years

old — played a selection of enter-

taining games.

White: Viswanathan Anand

Black: Rauf Mamedov

Gashimov Memorial, Shamkir

2021

Sicilian Dragon

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4

Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 The Dragon varia-

tion of the Sicilian Defence is es-

pecially popular at club level. It

can be a formidable weapon for

players who love to sacrifice and

attack. At the highest echelons,

however, the opening is out of

fashion. In this game Anand

demonstrates one of White’s

many reputable plans. 6 Be3 Bg7

7 f3 Nc6 8 Qd2 0-0 9 0-0-0 9 Bc4

is the main alternative, prevent-

ing Black’s imminent central

pawn break. This move often

leads to a chaotic yet fun middle-

game, with White pushing for-

ward on the kingside while Black

counters on the opposite flank.

9...d5 10 Qe1 This surprising re-

treat has tactical ideas behind it.

The d1-rook now has a clear line

of sight towards the black queen.

10...e5 11 Nxc6 bxc6 12 exd5

Nxd5 The desirable 12...cxd5 un-

fortunately runs into 13 Bg5 Be6

(13...d4 14 Qxe5) 14 Bc4! and Black

has difficulty preserving his cen-

tral pawns. 13 Bc4 Be6 14 Kb1

Black has navigated the opening

successfully, achieving a playable

position. Nevertheless, the ten-

sion along the d-file causes dis-

comfort. 14...f5? Too weakening.

Black now experiences pins on

both the d1-d8 file and the a2-g8

diagonal. 14...Re8 is the safe op-

tion, for example 15 Qd2 Nxe3 16

Qxe3 Qb6 with balanced chan-

ces. 15 Qd2 White wins a pawn by

force. 15...e4 15...Nc7 fails to save

the pawn: 16 Qxd8 Rfxd8 17

Rxd8+ Rxd8 18 Bxe6+ Nxe6 19

Bxa7. 16 Nxd5 cxd5 17 Bxd5 Qxd5

18 Qxd5 Bxd5 19 Rxd5 f4 20 Bc5

Rfb8 21 b3 e3 Black has estab-

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