An outdoor curling tournament in Naseby, New Zealand

© David Wall/Danita Delimon

Game of stones. ‘Chess on ice’

Here in Naseby, in the southern portion of New Zealand’s South Island, harsh winters offer great conditions for outdoor curling, or what competitors call ‘chess on ice’. And if there’s a multi-game tournament going on, in curling lingo, that’s a bonspiel. Almost 7,000 miles away in Beijing, the inaugural Curling World Cup champions will be crowned in today’s Grand Final. The new tournament, which began in September 2018, features men's, women's and mixed doubles teams.