David R. Sands

Pressure-cooker chess yields some savory results

When it's your game and your clock ticking and your rating points on the line, even a Friday night ladder pairing at the local club can be a highly stressful exercise. Put some higher stakes on the table -- say, oh, the last available slot for next year's U.S. championship field -- and things really start to get interesting.

December 22, 2020

Vladimir Putin: U.S. pressure won’t stop Nord Stream pipeline deal with Germany

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday expressed confidence that a massive natural gas pipeline to Germany will be completed despite the determined opposition of the Trump administration, telling a national audience in his annual holiday press conference that the Nord Stream 2 project is nearly completed.

December 17, 2020

Scottish whisky prices could be headed down as U.S., U.K. talk trade deal

The spirits of the season may soon be more affordable as U.S. and U.K. trade negotiators work toward a deal that would bring down tariffs on a range of goods, including prized Scottish whisky.

December 17, 2020

Digging the Queen’s Gambit long before ‘The Queen’s Gambit’

Chess players were into the Queen's Gambit long before "The Queen's Gambit." The runaway Netflix hit may have made chess cool this year (at least for a little while), but the Queen's Gambit -- accepted, declined or counter-gambited -- has been opening royalty since at least the late 19th century.

December 15, 2020

Hou Yifan has tough loss, good win in women’s chess ‘summit’

Former women's world champion GM Hou Yifan of China was the clear winner of the recent Belt and Road World Chess Summit, an online tournament replacing the traditional December event in Danzhou, China. It was not all smooth sailing for the top-rated Hou.

December 8, 2020

Chess: A global game gets snared in global problems

Who's up for a little more political talk? It's just a game, but chess with its global appeal can't help but get caught up in the great controversies of the day. From the Napoleonic wars to the Cold War, battles at the chessboard too often come to be stand-ins for ideological debates on whose faith, race, country or form of government is best.

December 1, 2020

For a chess lover, still many reasons to give thanks

In this weird, disjointed year, for the world of chess and the world in general, there are still plenty of reasons for our annual Thanksgiving count-your-blessings column.

November 24, 2020

‘The Queen’s Gambit’ accepted — with reservations

Relationship tip: Do not watch a chess movie with a chess player.

November 17, 2020

Stuart Rachels’ remarkable run and a new look at chess streaks

If you're scouting about for early holiday gifts, two of the year's best chess books present a nice package gift.

November 10, 2020

Wesley So channels Bobby Fischer to notch second U.S. chess title

He's already mastered Bobby Fischer's preferred form of chess. Now GM Wesley So is turning in performances that some are already calling Fischeresque.

November 3, 2020

Irina Krush, Joel Benjamin claim U.S. chess titles

The election is still (still!) a week away as this is written, but this columnist can report that two crucial voting demographics -- seniors and women -- have already selected this champion.

October 27, 2020

John Burke, Carissa Yip snag U.S. junior chess titles

A first-timer and a repeat winner have captured this year's U.S. junior and junior girls national titles, respectively.

October 20, 2020

Jan Krzystof Duda puts an end to Magnus Carlsen’s epic chess unbeaten streak

The Streak is over. For the first time since the summer of 2018, Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen was forced to tip his king in a game played at classical time controls. Polish GM Jan Krzystof Duda did the deed, defeating the champ at the Altibox Norway Chess Tournament now underway in Stavanger, Norway.

October 13, 2020

Christopher Yoo commands the Cadets at U.S. youth chess championship

As the Good Book says, a little child shall lead them. A month of U.S. championship tournaments got off to a nice start for 13-year-old California IM Christopher Yoo, who easily captured the U.S. Cadet Championship last week with an undefeated 6-1 score.

October 6, 2020

A cornucopia of chess championships coming in October

October will be a month of championships for American chess.

September 29, 2020

Remembering Garry Kasparov-Viswanathan Anand chess clash 25 years on

It was 25 years ago right about this time that Garry Kasparov and I were sitting on top of the world.

September 15, 2020

Making a living from chess, Renaissance-style

BREAKING NEWS: FIDE officials said Tuesday they are ready to restart the aborted Candidates Tournament to pick a challenger to Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen. The event was halted at the midway point in March as the coronavirus pandemic was shutting down activities and sports leagues around the world.

September 8, 2020

Internet glitch means shared chess Olympiad gold for Russia, India

In order to excel, the modern player must have strategic patience, tactical imagination, a thorough grounding in opening and endgame theory, nerves of steel, a steady hand -- and a reliable internet connection.

September 1, 2020

A short day’s work — a midsummer medley of chess miniatures

It's a short World, after all. Reviving a hallowed tradition for this space, we use the dog days of August as an excuse to present a parade of miniatures from recent play, saving those intricate positional battles and dreary knight-and-pawn endings for a less indolent time. And many of those minis came from July's 48th annual World Open, played exclusively online this year.

August 25, 2020

Positional chess sacrifices call for delayed gratification

Sacrificing a queen for a quick checkmate is always fun, but there's a lot to be said for sacrificing a pawn in the opening that leads to a winning endgame.

August 18, 2020