Hobbies, Games & Quizzes

The interviews in this book span over twenty years, over two decades. For years I went with my recording device to tournaments like Wijk aan Zee, Frankfurt Chess Classic, Hoogeveen... often to interview the interesting player of the moment in some hotel bar or quiet interview room. 31 out of the 35 interviews came about this way. That is… until March 2020, when out of nowhere, covid broke out. Suddenly chess tournaments were no longer held and a live interview with chess players was no longer possible.

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The Ripper Case Files provides hours of in-depth sleuthing for the macabre-minded. There are ten cases to be cracked, each of which requires you to answer a question at three points – the beginning, the middle and the end. Welcome to the murky underbelly of Victorian London, where Jack the Ripper still roams free – he must be caught before the public discovers that his gruesome murder spree continues. You must use your powers of deduction to outwit the Victorian detectives and solve the monstrous cases presented, culminating in uncovering the Ripper himself! This grisly collection of crimes isn't for the faint of heart, packed with shocking details and insider police knowledge; there will be twists and turns to keep even the keenest-eyed amateur PIs on their toes.

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Marsha Greenberg returns with even more stunningly original doll-size fashions, flawlessly crafted from vintage handkerchiefs and paired witty lifestyle advice, in this newly re-designed and revised edition of Hankie Couture.Featuring a gallery of 125 unique outfits and accessories, with 60 new fashions and fresh Hankie Couture girl "philosophy," Hankie Couture showcases an infinite variety of doll-sized styles for every occasion, from pyjamas to wedding gowns. The book also includes a how-to-guide with patterns and easy-to-follow sewing instruction to help you craft your very own unique outfits. Whether you're a crafter or doll enthusiast, Hankie Couture is the perfect book to unleash your imagination in transforming treasured heirlooms or colourful flea-market finds into one-of-a-kind fashion ensembles.

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The Modern Benoni is just about the most aggressive method that Black can choose to counter White's 1 d4. In the main line variations Black allows White to have a preponderance of central pawns which, traditionally, grants the first player the advantage. However, in return, Black gains the opportunity for tremendously dynamic counterplay. This places White and under immediate pressure as any inaccurate moves can prove to be disastrous. ----- In this book, FIDE Master John Doknjas examines all aspects of this highly complex opening and provides the reader with well-researched, fresh, and innovative analysis. Each annotated game has valuable lessons on how to play the opening and contains instructive commentary on typical middlegame plans. With thorough variations and explanations on pawn structures and piece placement, this book provides insight for both strong masters and less experienced players alike. The format is ideal for the chessplayer keen to improve their game. While reading you are continually challenged to answer probing questions - a method that greatly encourages the learning and practising of vital skills just as much as the traditional assimilation of chess knowledge. ----- * A complete repertoire for Black in the Modern Benoni. --- * A question and answer approach provides an excellent study method.

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Challenge yourself with word and number puzzles 100 puzzles from The Times adapting the cryptic puzzle for those with a hectic lifestyle and schedule. Ideal for those starting out with cryptic crosswords, and those who’d like to tackle the main puzzle but feel daunted, or who can perhaps only solve a handful of clues. Appearing Monday to Friday in the puzzle pages of Times2, this crossword has a reduced 13x13 grid size and reduced difficulty too, the intention being to encourage people to take their first steps in tackling cryptic crosswords. And also to cater for those of us who have limited time to devote to our favourite pastime and need a ready-made set of puzzles that is solvable in a short space of time.

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An essay collection exploring the board game’s relationship to the built environment, revealing the unexpected ways that play reflects perceptions of space.Board games harness the creation of entirely new worlds. From the medieval warlord to the modern urban planner, players are permitted to inhabit a staggering variety of roles and are prompted to incorporate preexisting notions of placemaking into their decisions. To what extent do board games represent the social context of their production? How might they reinforce or subvert normative ideas of community and fulfillment? In Playing Place, Chad Randl and D. Medina Lasansky have curated a collection of thirty-seven fascinating essays, supplemented by a rich trove of photo illustrations, that unpack these questions with breadth and care.Although board games are often recreational objects, their mythologies and infrastructure do not exist in a vacuum—rather, they echo and reproduce preva

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A Billion Suns is a wargame of interstellar combat that puts you in command of fleets of powerful starships, from squadrons of agile, but fragile, fighters, to hulking and powerful capital ships. When combined with some spaceship miniatures, a tape measure, a deck of playing cards and some dice, this rulebook provides everything you need to play exciting and tense tabletop games of interstellar exploration and combat. Using simple dice pool mechanics, you must carefully manage your resources and seize the opportunities that come your way in order to lead your fleet to victory and assert your dominance over the stars.

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Fast electric model power boats have long outclassed other boat types in terms of speed, and racing them is becoming an ever-more popular pastime. Success in this exciting hobby relies not just on the skill of the boat’s handler, but on the design and build of the boat as well. Illustrated with numerous photographs and diagrams showing technical details, this book looks at all aspects of building a model electric power boat, including How to choose a model and spot design flaws, especially in moulded hulls, and how to repair many of those faults, Brushed and brushless motors, and their speed controllers, drive systems and propellers, Guidance on rechargeable cells and the correct chargers, and safety tips for lithium polymer cells, Tips on construction and how to set up a boat for racing, Detailed instructions for building a wooden three-point outrigger hydroplane and Radio systems, wiring and connectors. While the emphasis of this book is on performance for competition use, beginners and recreational boaters are well catered for as many of the chapters start from first principles, rather than assuming a high level of initial competence. It covers all aspects of fast electric boating, from hull design right through to racing at world championships and setting speed records. Therefore, whether you are looking to compete or operate fast electric power boats as a hobby, it is a must-have addition to your library.

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Beautiful wrapping paper and gift tags inspired by nature, from Flow, the international brand that celebrates creativity, mindfulness, and the pleasures of paper. ·Includes twelve 19” x 26” sheets of wrapping paper printed with different illustrations on two sides ·Plus 12 punch-out full-color gift tags Each colorful illustrated sheet of wrapping paper by Valesca van Waveren is like a gift itself. Her patterns, inspired by the quotation “All good things are wild and free,” from the Henry David Thoreau quotation, remind us of the simple joys of nature: pressed flowers, shiny beetles, sweet figs, noble tigers, and traveling snails. Tear out the decorated sheets along the perforations and unfold them to their full size before wrapping a parcel and affixing a matching gift tag. The full All Good Things Are Wild and Free stationery line includes: 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle, sticker book, stationery set, daily tracker, wrapping paper and gift tags, sticky notes, sketchbook, and notebook set.

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Do you like chess and want to become a better player without putting in hundreds of hours training? 365 Endgame Lessons for Novices has a practical approach with a focus on the endgame. This book helps to eliminate hours of game study and provides bite-sized lessons and tasks that you can implement each day to improve your chess game over the course of a year. We’ve collected an array of typical positions and situations that are frequently seen on the board so that you can better anticipate common mistakes, as well as teach you how you can exploit your opponent’s mistakes. If you make 5-10 minutes of chess study a daily habit, you will improve your chess game and your “chess brain” by opening your mind to planning and moves you wouldn’t otherwise see on the chess board.

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The New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically goes on a rollicking journey to understand the enduring power of puzzles: why we love them, what they do to our brains, and how they can improve our world.“Even though I’ve never attempted the New York Times crossword puzzle or solved the Rubik’s Cube, I couldn’t put down The Puzzler.”—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project and Better Than Before Don’t miss A.J. Jacobs’ new podcast, The Puzzler, coming this fall!What makes puzzles—jigsaws, mazes, riddles, sudokus—so satisfying? Be it the formation of new cerebral pathways, their close link to insight and humor, or their community-building properties, they’re among the fundamental elements that make us human. Convinced that puzzles have made him a better person, A.J. Jacobs—four-ti

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At some time during ownership a train set crosses an arbitrary threshold and becomes a model railway. The aspiring modeller then has the challenge of filling in all the gaps. Whether the line runs through the countryside, a village or town, some type of infrastructure is needed to represent the station, home, or factory. This can be a challenge to the modeller as there are a wide variety of offerings at differing price points and detail levels. This book progresses through planning and thought processes aiming to demonstrate pictorially several different build types. From the simple paper kit to mighty scratch-built edifices, each is broken down to show how the build is undertaken. This book also follows some of the rebuilding process undertaken by the Market Deeping Model Railway Club as layouts were repaired, enhanced, or replaced following their annual show being vandalised on the night before public opening in May 2019\. As the news of this sad event broke, it went worldwide through the modelling community and public in general. The images of layouts broken to matchwood showed many years of skilled building and devoted operation which were lost. This gave the opportunity for experienced club members to build a mini movie set, construct a major London terminus and patch repair what could be saved from damaged originals. The photographic capture of these projects has been used within this book alongside the detailed work of other modellers, clubs, and societies.

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The Lounge Dogs 500 Piece Puzzle from Galison is a comical puzzle featuring a vignette of dogs transforming a living room into a dog lounge. This puzzle is fun for the whole family. Galison puzzles are packaged in matte-finish sturdy boxes, perfect for gifting, reuse, and storage. • 500 pieces, Random cut • Box: 8 x 8 x 1.5”, 203 x 203 x 41mm; Puzzle: 20 x 20”, 508 x 508 mm • Includes Color Insert with Puzzle Image • Virtually No Puzzle Dust • Puzzle greyboard contains 90% recycled paper. Packaging contains 70% recycled paper and is made responsibly from FSC-certified material. Printed with nontoxic inks.

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This 1000 piece puzzle book features a dreamy photography from Gray’s best-selling collection, La Dolce Vita. Gray Malin puzzles are the perfect gift for puzzle and fine art photography enthusiasts alike. This book shaped keepsake box has a magnetic closure and looks great on the bookshelf or coffee table. •    Box: 8.5 x 10.5 x 2.1”, 216 x 267 x 53 mm •    Puzzle Size: 24 X 18”, 610 x 457 mm •    Keepsake box with magnetic closure, printed interior box liner •    Color puzzle insert featuring the full puzzle image •    Puzzle greyboard contains 90% recycled paper. Packaging contains 70% recycled paper and is made responsibly from FSC-certified material. Printed with nontoxic soy-based inks.

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Whether you've established yourself as an elite cat parent or you simply love kitties and their quirks, this collection of cat-themed puzzles is certain to set your mind purring More than just ruling the world, cats rule our hearts and homes. When you deserve a rest from giving head-scritches, or if it's raining cats and dogs outside, why not press "paws" and enjoy a puzzle or two? From classic conundrums and quizzes to cryptic crosswords and sudokus, whether you choose to while away the hours or simply dip a paw in, there is plenty within these pages to keep your mind as agile as your favourite feline. Inside you will find a variety of puzzles, including:- Find the names of famous cats hiding within word searches - Spot the differences between snapshots of common cat habits - Solve the maze to reunite the kitten with its ball of wool - Answer trivia to learn about rare cat breeds

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Explore a wild new frontier with solo, cooperative, and competitive scenarios and new soldiers, creatures, and equipment rooted in the history and folklore of Canada. Far from the battlefields of Europe, another war is being fought. In the vast lands of North America, Britain and the United States clash once again and, in the shadow of this conflict, the otherworldly Harvestmen pursue their devious plans, feasting on the rage and terror of mortals. In the face of this menace, however, brave folk, seconded from the military or recruited from the local populace, band together to take the fight to the sinister Harvestmen and their minions. Canada is a supplement for The Silver Bayonet that brings players and their officers across the Atlantic and straight into the War of 1812. It offers new scenarios, solo and cooperative as well as competitive; rules for recruiting US units; and creatures and challenges drawn from Canadian history and folklore.

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