RUSSIA: Kremlin Gambit

With. a sudden shifting of pawns and one of their bishops, the impassive players in the Kremlin changed the alignment of the diplomatic chessboard last week and left the rest of the world wondering what new gambit they were up to this time.

The maneuver went thus:

¶ From Moscow to London to be new Soviet Ambassador to the Court of St. James's—stony-browed Andrei ("Walkout") Gromyko, 42, since 1949 the U.S.S.R.'s chief Deputy Foreign Minister;

¶ From Washington to Peking as New Ambassador to Red China—Alexander S. Panyushkin, 47, the wordless wonder who has...