David R. Sands

A fragrant cherry blossom bouquet shared at Virginia chess tournament

There was an international flavor at the top of the leaderboard at last month's 12th Cherry Blossom Classic in Sterling, Virginia, with Lithuanian GM Titas Stremavicius and Serbian GM Luka Budisavlijevic sharing top honors at 7-2, while foreign-based players claimed seven of the top 10 spots in the strong 50-player event.

June 3, 2025

A high-class case of losing by resigning

For many beginning players, the trickiest thing about chess is not how to play a game but how to end one.

May 27, 2025

Czech great Vlastimil Hort dies at 82

The ranks of the great generation of post-World War II chess players lost another luminary last week with the death of Czech-born, German-based GM Vlastimil Hort at the age of 81.

May 20, 2025

New woes for Yoo after Sardinia win

The troubling saga of young U.S. GM Christopher Woojin Yoo has taken another dark turn -- right on the heels of the promising American junior's most impressive achievement to date over the chessboard.

May 13, 2025

Geller at 100: A sterling career but never the brass ring

It seems every chess era produces at least one star-crossed player whose path to the top is blocked by an even greater talent.

May 6, 2025

April shower of chess wins puts Ivanchuk back in the game’s top ranks

Don't look now, but one of the hottest players on the international circuit is a grizzled veteran who first earned his grandmaster spurs in the second Reagan administration.

April 29, 2025

Ju retains women’s world crown with convincing win over chess rival

She doesn't always get the accolades of her great predecessors, such as Xie Jun and Hou Yifan, but the tenacious Chinese GM Ju Wenjun is carving out her own impressive chess legacy at the top of the women's game.

April 22, 2025

Ju’s winning streak leaves rival reeling in women’s world chess title clash

Chinese women's world champion GM Ju Wenjun is just a draw away from retaining the title she has held since 2018, using a four-game midmatch winning streak to pull away from compatriot and longtime rival GM Tan Zhongyi in their scheduled 12-game clash in Shanghai and Chongqing.

April 15, 2025

Even the chess greats falter when endgame pressure mounts

There's no hindsight in chess like endgame hindsight.

April 8, 2025

April Fools’ gold: Chess deceit and deception in the spirit of the day

With all the pieces visible to both players and all the rules much pretty set in concrete, it's hard to think of a good April Fools' Day joke to play over the board in tournament play that doesn't run the risk of getting you forfeited.

April 1, 2025

Nakamura tops archrival Caruana to claim American Cup

GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana met again at the just-concluded 2025 American Cup, extending what is likely the most intense and balanced rivalry in the history of American chess.

March 25, 2025

The greatest match that never was — when Fischer and Karpov didn’t meet

The history of chess is riddled with missed opportunities.

March 18, 2025

India’s Pranav fits the mold as new world junior chess champ

In a rare double unlikely to be replicated, the new world chess champion is an 18-year-old grandmaster from the Indian city of Chennai, and the new world junior champion is, yep, an 18-year-old grandmaster from the Indian city of Chennai.

March 11, 2025

All-around great: Spassky was defined by far more than that match with Fischer

Boris Spassky was far too great a chessplayer -- and human being -- to be defined and remembered by the one memorable match he lost.

March 4, 2025

European leaders offer support for Ukraine, Zelenskyy after contentious White House visit

A number of top European leaders took to social media Friday to offer some backup for beleaguered Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after his tense, televised clash with President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance over the war with Russia and the road ahead.

March 1, 2025

Putin to U.S.: We have mineral resources too for sale, development

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he is willing to make his country's significant rare earth and critical mineral resources available to U.S. buyers and investors, responding to President Trump's push for a similar deal with Ukraine.

February 25, 2025

Champ’s blue jean blues latest move in the long clash between chess and fashion

Modern chessplayers -- to put it mildly -- are not exactly known for their sartorial sophistication. Now comes news that the most famous pair of blue jeans in chess history is up for sale -- the pair worn by former world champion Magnus Carlsen that earned him a rebuke from organizers at the World Rapid Championships in New York late last year for violating the event's dress code.

February 25, 2025

Merz on track to win German election, but far-right party a clear second

Germany's center-right parties are on course to return to power after four years in opposition, while a far-right party that has garnered praise from top Trump administration figures doubled its vote for an unprecedented second-place finish in Sunday's national elections, according to the first exit polls from Berlin.

February 23, 2025

Kremlin applauds Trump’s characterization of Zelenskyy; allies reaffirm support for Ukraine

President Trump's new comments that Ukraine started the war with Russia and that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is an unpopular "dictator" who refuses to hold elections generated a sharp pushback Wednesday from top European leaders -- and a ringing endorsement from Russia's foreign minister.

February 19, 2025

Trump blasts Zelenskyy as ‘dictator’ who duped U.S. into sending aid

President Trump unleashed a blistering rebuke of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday, calling him a "dictator without elections" who tricked the U.S. into spending billions to help his country.

February 19, 2025