Check

Sixty-four squares of black and white, no shades of gray, twenty-four pieces in opposition, in limitation, in collaboration, leaving two people in one bubble. Chess is one of those truly beautiful ideas, a base concept that if shared by two people can break all ground and cause a friendship to be struck up solely on the basis of a well timed castle. For me, it ranks up there with a deck of cards for flexibility and longevity, and as a magician who flicked cards four hours a day, that's saying something. But chess I play not enough, and when I do I realise how much I miss it. The last few weeks I've had a couple of games and I'm itchy for fresh challenges (people tend to stop playing after losing thrice in an hour). I will be honest and admit I do have one grand theory on chess, a scheme of tactics I stick by no matter what, and you'll be surprised to hear I'm happy to give it away. It boils down to one command: play the best move possible on the next turn. It's foolproof, never let me down, and has the rather large advantage of releasing you from the worry of tactics, strategy or long term game plan, leaving you free to converse at leisure with your opponent. This not only serves to distract them from their game, but because their mind is not on the dialogue, barriers fall wide open and out slips a whole range of guarded information.

That reminds me, click here for a radio sketch by myself and the incredibly talented Simon Judd.