Chess

Plans for the Mother of All Chess Battles appear to be progressing as smoothly as can be expected. Anatoly Karpov and Gata Kamsky have apparently agreed to play their match for the Fide world championship in Baghdad in June, and the Fide president, Kirsan Ilyumjinov, has held a meeting with Saddam Hussein's eldest son, Uday, who is chairman of Iraq's national Olympic committee. Referring to the hostility of the US State Department, which has threatened Kamsky with a $1m fine if he plays in Iraq, Ilyumjinov was quoted as saying: "I am fundamentally a pacifist. Why has the choice of Baghdad fuelled such emotion? Chess comes from the Arab world."

Alan Hiron's Bridge column has been held over until tomorrow.