David R. Sands

Obama’s credit card rejected on New York trip

President Obama came perilously close to having to wash some dishes on his recent trip to New York.

October 17, 2014

SANDS: From Lasker to Larsen, chess games that link the generations

For such an ancient and venerable game, chess offers some surprisingly direct links to its distant past.

October 14, 2014

SANDS: Ashburn’s Yu brings home gold in chess World Youth Championships

The DMV has a new world chess champion. Ashburn, Virginia, middle-schooler Jennifer Yu, fresh off a fine performance at last month's Virginia Closed Championship, is the new world girls' under-12 champion, bringing home the gold medal at the World Youth Championships in Durban, South Africa.

October 7, 2014

SANDS: In a digital age, chess writers still go by the book

There are software programs that can beat the strongest grandmaster in history. Videos of top grandmasters explaining the secrets of their favorite openings are big sellers. The lowliest club player can purchase databases with millions of searchable games dating back to when Ruy Lopez was still in the seminary.

October 1, 2014

Turkey builds massive pipeline to send drinking water to thirsty Cyprus

An ambitious pipeline project linking reservoirs in Turkey to the parched, isolated Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is on track to bring much needed drinking water to the island by year's end.

September 30, 2014

Turkey builds innovative pipeline to Northern Cyprus

It won't carry any oil, but an ambitious pipeline project linking reservoirs in Turkey to the parched, isolated Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus could prove as politically charged as any project now underway in the region.

September 28, 2014

SANDS: Surging Anand could pose problem in chess title rematch

Don't write off the ex-champ so fast. GM Viswanathan Anand is a distinct underdog as he tries to reclaim the world title he lost last year to Norwegian star Magnus Carlsen, with the rematch set for November in Sochi, Russia.

September 23, 2014

SANDS: Schuyler reclaims chess crown in Virginia title tournament

Congratulations to Virginia FM James Schuyler, who captured his third state title — and third in the past four years — at the traditional Labor Day closed state championship tournament in Glen Allen.

September 16, 2014

SANDS: Caruana’s Sinquefield chess win ranks as one for the ages

It ranked a tournament performance for the ages, and that was with three rounds still to go. Italian-American GM Fabiano Caruana opened with seven straight wins to blow away the field at the Sinquefield Cup tournament that wrapped up last week in St. Louis.

September 9, 2014

SANDS: Azarov wins International; China claims Olympiad gold

He came up just short in July's D.C. International in Arlington, but GM Sergei Azarov was not to be denied in this month's third annual Washington International tournament, held across the Potomac in Rockville. The Belarusian star finished alone in first with an undefeated 7-2 score, a full point ahead of a sextet of pursuers: GMs Yaroslav Zherebukh and Ioan Chrila, and IMs Akshat Chandra, Samuel Sevian, Levan Bregadze and Justin Sarkar.

August 19, 2014

SANDS: Alexander Shabalov again savors Open chess tourney success

Twenty-one years after his first Open title, GM Alexander Shabalov was back in the winner's circle earlier this month, sharing the honors with five other players at the 115th U.S. Open tournament in Orlando, Florida. Inferior tiebreakers kept the Latvian-born Mr. Shabalov from contending for the trophy, won by GM Conrad Holt in a blitz playoff over IM Michael Mulyar, but the result extends a remarkable career in which Mr. Shabalov has won or shared five Open titles to go along with four Closed national championships.

August 12, 2014

SANDS: American chess teams stumble as Olympiad kicks off

After easy wins in the first two rounds, the U.S. team suffered a painful setback in Round 3 of the 41st biennial Olympiad that got underway late last week in the northern Norwegian city of Tromso.

August 5, 2014

SANDS: Song soars with dramatic Cadet chess victory

It came down to one game for all the marbles in the final round of the U.S. Cadet Championship in Rockville, Maryland, last week, with co-leaders Edward Song of Michigan and Kapil Chandran of Connecticut paired against each other.

July 29, 2014

SANDS: Cadets battle as D.C. summer chess scene heats up

With the D.C. International and the World Open just behind us, and a slew of events underway and on the way, the Washington area is emerging as one of the nation's premier summer hot spots for top-flight chess.

July 22, 2014

SANDS: Winners take three paths to the top at the 42nd World Chess Open

There are many paths to world domination. The 42nd World Open, held earlier this month at the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City, produced a three-way tie at the top, with GMs Ilya Smirin of Israel, Illya Nyzhnyk of Ukraine and Conrad Holt sharing the honors in the Open section with 7-2 scores. Smirin would claim the official title after a playoff.

July 15, 2014

SANDS: Ortiz Suarez wins D.C., Smirin wins the World

It sometimes gets billed as the "warm-up" to the World Open, but the D.C. International Tournament doesn't have to accept second billing to any other event these days.

July 8, 2014

SANDS: Fourth time a charm as Troff captures U.S. junior chess title

America's newest grandmaster is also its 2014 junior champion.

July 1, 2014

SANDS: Campaigning and competing on Capitol Hill

Appropriately, there was a lot of lobbying, some politicking and a little competing at the first public meeting of the Congressional Chess Caucus last week, held in a committee room at the House Rayburn Office Building.

June 25, 2014

SANDS: Kasparov, new caucus mark first congressional chess tourney

There will be some bipartisanship at the board this week on Capitol Hill, as the newly hatched Congressional Chess Caucus on Wednesday, June 18 hosts the inaugural Congressional Chess Tournament, with former world champion Garry Kasparov on hand to enforce the touch-move rule.

June 17, 2014