Fewer requests for cheese

Would people travel as much if they could not take pictures?

Probably, plus a boon for us who stay home: there’s only so many Taj Mahal snaps we can handle.
Marilyn Hamilton, Perth, Western Australia

• If you visited a new place and didn’t have a selfie showing yourself there, would you really have been there?
David Isaacs, Sydney, Australia

• Yes, for they would collect other souvenirs.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

• I’m sure that the refugees of the world are not transient for the sake of selfies.
Neil Johnson, Birmingham, UK

• I remember travelling with someone whose mother was blind and who wrote wonderful descriptive accounts of her trips. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a detailed written journal is priceless!
Avril Taylor, Dundas, Ontario, Canada

• I can’t picture it.
Malcolm Campbell, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

• Yes. They’d be less distracted and more mindful of what they came for.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada

• Probably, but they mightn’t remember so well where they’d been.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia

• Yes, but there would be fewer requests for cheese.
Roger Morrell, Perth, Western Australia

Afghanistan is the real loser

What makes a great game?

A formidable opponent.
R De Braganza, Kilifi, Kenya

• The constant possibility of a sudden change of fortune.
David Kettle, Northcote, Victoria, Australia

• Sportspersonship.
Charlie Bamforth, Davis, California, US

• This was the term given to British meddling in Afghanistan in the 1830s; things have gone downhill.
Joan Dawson, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

• Fair play.
Avril Nicholas, Crafers, South Australia

• Great tension. Who’s going to win?
Pat Phillips, Adelaide, South Australia

Meditating upon chess

What most useful skill would serve well when carried into old age?

Meditation.
Maurice Gauthier, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

• The ability to enjoy one’s own company.
Ann M Altman, Hamden, Connecticut, US

• Listening to others.
Bob Barton, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

• Chess.
Adrian Chaster, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

• Balance.
Adrian Cooper, Queens Park, NSW, Australia

• An ability to accept help when it is offered.
David Tucker, Halle, Germany

• Writing! You’re never too old to write and you’ll have so many stories to tell.
Sarah Klenbort, Bronte, NSW, Australia

Any answers?

What’s the difference between a pal and a friend?
Donna Samoyloff, Toronto, Canada

What was your favourite childhood Christmas decoration, and why?
William Emigh, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Send answers and more questions to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com