A few years ago my best friend Lenny and I went out to Copenhagen to play in a big backgammon tournament. It was open to anyone and had various levels of competition. We entered the intermediate tier

Decorative tiles have brought design, colour and character to our homes, and particularly fireplaces, for centuries. Alice Roberton looks at the enduring appeal of these antique treasures

The St Crispin Cup, anyone? Rivalries – and prizes – abound in the Six Nations, says Simon Barnes

Simon Kuper World Cup Fever A footballing journey in nine tournaments 352pp. Profile. £20. Jonathan Wilson The Power and the Glory A new history of the World Cup 608pp. Abacus. £25. In 1994, a column

C. Thi Nguyen The Score How to stop playing someone else’s game 368pp. Allen Lane. £25. Games and metrics are cousins of a sort. They both give us targets to pursue, often in the form of numerical sco

Once known for its lacemaking factories, Nottingham has reinvented itself as a centre of role-playing games. Games Workshop – maker of Warhammer 40,000 – is a multibillion-pound behemoth, and it sustains a whole ecosystem.