By Guy D. Garcia

"I will never marry again," Elizabeth Taylor reportedly declared 18 months ago. Well, when she was young, it was said that a woman was entitled to change her mind. And so last week Taylor, 51, announced her engagement to wealthy Mexican Lawyer Victor Gonzalez Luna, 56. He will be husband No. 8. To mark the occasion, Gonzalez Luna presented his intended with a 16 1/2-carat sapphire surrounded by tiny diamonds. So forget Liz and Dick; until further notice, make it Liz and Vic.

After 3.5 million kilometers of space, a single kilometer on the ground might seem a bit tame. But last week Astronaut Sally Ride, 32, was in New York City to promote next summer's Olympic Torch Relay and the 1-km leg of the journey to be run in her name for the benefit of the Girls Clubs of America. Her schedule permitting, Ride may even show up to take a few jogging steps for womankind. Don't look back, John Glenn, someone may be gaining on you.

It was beginning to seem as if not all the pawns were on the board. During the current World Chess Federation championship tournament, Soviet officials were playing some sort of game of their own. First Viktor Korchnoi, 52, the Soviet defector who now lives in Switzerland, was set to face U.S.S.R. Whiz Kid Gari Kasparov, 20, in a semifinal match at Pasadena City College in California. But Kasparov never showed because, it was rumored, the Soviets feared he might defect. Three days later, former World Champion Vassily Smyslov, 62, was also disqualified, for boycotting a match against Hungary's Zoltan Ribli, 31, in Abu Dhabi ostensibly because the Persian Gulf emirate was too hot. So Korchnoi and Ribli will meet for the right to confront World Champion Anatoly Karpov, 32, though he is now said to be unwilling to face anyone who has won by default. Checkers, anyone?

Actress Jill Clayburgh, 39, seems to have entered a legal phase. Two years ago, she was a Supreme Court Justice in First Monday in October. Now in Hanna K., a new political film by Director Costa-Gavrass (Z, Missing), she plays an American attorney turned Israeli citizen who takes on the controversial case of an Arab charged with persistently and illegally crossing the border into Israel. "It is an allegorical tale," says Clayburgh. Though she had little time to play tourist while filming in Israel, being virtually unknown there gave her a welcome escape from the pressures of fame. Says she: "It's especially nice in museums."

"Once you have it, you're never going to lose it," explains Oscar Robertson, 44. "The Big O" was back under the hoops last week along with Wilt Chamberlain, Bob Cousy and Jack Twyman, among other N.B.A. old-timers who showed up at Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, N.Y., for a game to raise funds for needy pro-basketball players. Indeed, the old stars do still seem to have it. Cousy, 55, handled the ball with magical dexterity, and when 7-ft. 1-in. Chamberlain, 46, slam-dunked a basket, the crowd roared as if "Wilt the Stilt" had never missed a season. Twyman, 49, who originally organized the benefit, does not think the pro game has changed all that much. Says Twyman, now a wholesale-grocery businessman: "If I was in shape and 23 again, I could probably play with anybody."

--By Guy D. Garcia This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.