If it's October it must be Mornington Crescent

[MarkWithaC]

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Although of course MC is a game for all seasons, I do have especially fond memories of an October championships in Wales and extracurricular… fun amid the greenery of a National Trust garden.

If I've missed anyone I do apologise; do round up any players you happen to see or hear of.

And I'll start with a lovely little move that the Reverend taught me.
Finsbury Park

Ooh that means I can invoke the Literary Circuit and take us to Bloomsbury for Virginia Woolf and friends. Nearest tube is Russell Square.

Dear, dear Virginia. She's usually credited with introducing John Maynard Keynes to the game of games, with far-reaching consequences.

Barbican

I was unaware that Mr Keynes had played the game of games. I must re-read his General Theory to see if there are hidden clues as to how he played the game.

Moorgate.

According to the Contessa - who, of course, knows about such matters - the General Theory can be read as an extended, coded instruction manual for mastering the game of games. Its implications for outward play on the Bakerloo line were revolutionary at the time.

Leicester Square

Depends on which Contessa of course. If you mean my dear old mater, she's a DEMON player, loves a diversionary fractal, always always plays Kensington High Street, even when gates are easterly - and somehow gets away with it!

The other Contessa? Well, all
I'll say is don't be deceived by the lorgnette and inquisitorial finger. She's not quite all she claims to be, General Theory or no. There are friends in Peckham who...well I shall say no more. Make of that what you will.

Chalfont and Latimer. (I always think that sounds like a private detective duo.)

Indeed! But rather than detective novels, I've been reading spy novels of late, so Westminster, for Thames House. (I hear the MC tournaments at MI5 are legendary. Or is that too much information?)

Some of the game of games tournaments are staged on the basis that the first rule of a 1998 film applies.

Ravenscourt Park

But we don't talk about that.

Penge West

Goodness me, I pop out to discuss matters with the delightful President-Elect and the game has proceeded magnificently!

Sadly he was not au fait with the game of games and thinks it smacks of fake news. Apparently he knows many, many people who think it shouldn't be allowed. I have had a quiet word with his team and they assure me that they will introduce a game gently, (and quite possibly allow him to win), but may have to rely on a version using the New York subway.

I hope they are successful, or things may get tricky over the next four years.

In honour of my visit, I am taking a 10 minute walk from Vauxhall to the US Embassy.

You handled that tricky situation with your customary aplomb, Myrtle. I am sure that, in time, you know who will accept that the game of games is very far from fake news.

Battersea Power Station

You are too kind Gertrude. I fear it will be a long and difficult process and we should probably reconsider holding the 2026 finals in Birmingham, Alabama and relocate to Birmingham in the West Midlands.

I fancy a trip to the west end to take in a show, so I'm moving to Piccadilly.

Yes, that would be a wise precaution in all the circumstances. I too feel like an evening of theatrical entertainment, so shall head to

Stratford

Setting me up nicely for a wedge pass to Victoria.

Nicely chipped @Seaside1234

I can't quite believe I'm going to do this, but here goes...Great Portland Street

<<gasps>>

<<reaches for smelling salts>>

Well, in that case, I shall risk a lateral Grosvenor (and who cares what the archdeacon will think of it) to

Tottenham Court Road

West Acton to escape from any potential vortex.

I believe that leaves the way clear for an obverse shift to north Greenwich.

Gertrude, you are fortunate that I played Tottenham Court Road on New Year's Eve because a return to a station is allowed within a game as long as the two turns are in separate calendar years.

North Greenwich is a lovely station and I'll toddle along to Bermondsey.

Oh dear. I have been rather distracted by those events at the high commission - they've mostly been hushed up but I'm sure you've heard rumours. (Suffice to say His Excellency is recovering but it'll be a while before we revisit the Piccadilly line). Anyway, my apologies for forgetting the previous move to TCR. Can I proceed to

Willesden Junction?

I think a move to Hatch End on this cold evening would be appropriate.

I'm cold. If there was still a baker in Pudding Lane I would go there to warm by the oven. The nearest station is...Monument!

I've been laid low with the 'flu for most of the pestilent festive season, so I apologise in advance because I am a chaotic player even when not under the influence of absinthe-laced Lemsip.

So audacity it is... I invoke the Oblique Paradox cough to leap straight to Northwood... yes, I am exploiting the sneeze Bridgadier's Path Clause under the 2023 revision rules (yet to be wheeze usurped) - completely bypassing all Zone 1 restrictions.

Outrageous? Absolutely! Legal? Barely!

G'wan fight me, fight me.... chest crackling like popping candy

Northwood, eh? That move owes more to the absinthe than it does to the Lemsip, methinks. The Brigadier's Path clause has led many a player astray - huge risk of plunging into Nidd - but I hope to avoid it via

Southgate

Jeez, there's some bold moves going on here! Impressed by the appetite for risk. Which has paid off, allowing me as it does to play Boston Manor.

I cannot recall the last time the Brigadier's path was invoked. It seems to be about as rare as the en passant rule in chess.

South Ealing