David R. Sands

SANDS: Missed chances as Anand, Carlsen start world chess title match in Chennai, India

Like boxers cautiously feeling out their opponents in the early rounds, world champion Viswanathan Anand of India and Norwegian challenger Magnus Carlsen produced short, tentative draws in the first two games of their scheduled 12-round title match now underway in Chennai, India. But even though no hard punches were landed, the first two games did provide quite a bit of insight for the rounds ahead.

November 12, 2013

SANDS: Anand-Carlsen chess title match kicks off Saturday in Chennai, India

He has held the world championship for six years, beating off challenges from GMs Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov and, just two years ago, Boris Gelfand. He has far more match experience and will have the considerable advantage of defending his crown for the fourth time in his hometown of Chennai, India, before a rabid fan base that will be strongly pulling for him.

November 5, 2013

SANDS: A great chess battle propels Novy Bor’s European Cup win

The European Club Cup, featuring teams (and a few hired guns) put together by clubs across the continent, has long been one of the strongest competitions of its kind.

October 29, 2013

SANDS: Quick strikes speed Shabalov to win in class chess championship

The vagaries of the Swiss system pairings used in U.S. tournaments often mean that the "critical" games of the event come well before the final round.

October 22, 2013

SANDS: Glorious imperfection of a titanic prize fight in chess

The cover of my paperback copy of R.N. Coles' "Epic Battles of the Chessboard" has come off and the contents are showing their age as well: The latest game, Matanovich-Rossolimo, dates back to 1951 and the chess moves are in the old English descriptive notation.

October 15, 2013

SANDS: Low-key chess GM Boris Gelfand enjoying a high-achieving year

Continuing a remarkable late-career surge, Belarus-born Israeli GM Boris Gelfand finished in a tie for first with young Italian GM Fabiano Caruana last week at the sixth and final FIDE Grand Prix tournament held in Paris. The two scored 7-4 in the all-grandmaster field, with Caruana taking home the trophy on the strength of having the better tiebreaks.

October 8, 2013

SANDS: Title hunt: Krush notches grandmaster norm in strong Baku chess tournament

Kudos to U.S. women's national champion Irina Krush, who earned her first grandmaster norm at the strong recent open tournament in Baku, Azerbaijan.

October 1, 2013

SANDS: Hou reclaims women’s chess crown in dominating fashion

Chinese WGM Hou Yifan used a dominating performance to reclaim the women's world title from overmatched Ukrainian WGM Anna Ushenina last week.

September 24, 2013

SANDS: Carlsen dominates in last tuneup for world title fight in chess

Making an impressive statement in his last major tournament before November's world championship match, Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen used a tough last-round win over Armenia's Levon Aronian to capture sole first place in the Sinquefield Cup tournament in St. Louis, one of the strongest events held on American soil in decades.

September 17, 2013

Hospitals treating victims of D.C. Navy Yard shooting

A spokeswoman for Medstar Washington Hospital Center said the D.C. hospital has already received three people wounded in Monday's shooting at the Navy Yard and "we've been told to expect more."

September 16, 2013

SANDS: Carlsen faces last test before world title chess match with Anand

The women's world champion and the man who could be the next men's champ are both in action this week as the summer season of open tournaments gives way to a string of elite events.

September 10, 2013

SANDS: Lenderman bounces back to capture Atlantic Open chess title

Bouncing back from the disappointment of the recent U.S. Open, New York GM Alex Lenderman easily captured the top prize at last week's Atlantic Open, finishing alone in first at 4½-½ at the District's traditional end-of-summer tournament.

September 3, 2013

McCain: Rejection of Syria war resolution would be ‘catastrophic’

Emerging from a private briefing with President Obama at the White House on Monday, Sen. John McCain warned it would be "catastrophic" if Congress rejected a resolution authorizing Mr. Obama to take military action against Syria over its suspected use of chemical weapons.

September 2, 2013

SANDS: In FIDE World Cup format, the chess knockout proves a crapshoot

Picking the winner in the knockout-format FIDE World Cup is like trying to handicap a demolition derby — the traffic patterns are so chaotic and the collisions so random that almost anyone can emerge with the last functioning engine. In the format featuring two games at classical time controls and a rapid and blitz playoff, even the best players can be tripped up.

August 27, 2013

SANDS: Alone this time, Quesada Perez tops Washington International

Leading a strong contingent of Cuban players, GM Yuniesky Quesada Perez last week captured the second annual Washington International in Rockville with an undefeated 7-2 score.

August 20, 2013

SANDS: Sparkling new chess game collection offers a trip to ‘Planet Chukky’

He may be the most talented — and star-crossed — player of his generation. His admiring peers routinely say that mercurial Ukrainian GM Vassily Ivanchuk possesses as much natural skill and chess intelligence as anyone who ever played the game. The sole resident of "Planet Chukky" (players joke he lives in his own world) presents a combination of imagination, technique and out-of-the-box ideas that few can match.

August 13, 2013

SANDS: Friedel beats Molner in chess playoff to win U.S. Open in Wisconsin

It was a popular win as Wisconsin GM Josh Friedel took top honors at the just-concluded 114th U.S. Open that wrapped up Sunday evening in the state capital of Madison.

August 10, 2013

SANDS: At Cadets, one short chess game leads to one big payout for New Yorker

It was one of the bigger payoffs you're going to see riding on a single game of rapid chess: $145,624 for less than a half hour of work.

July 30, 2013

SANDS: Cadets kick off busy summer of competitive chess

There's a nice rivalry developing across the Potomac as the Washington area continues its sizzling summer as a hotbed of chess activity.

July 23, 2013

SANDS: Big struggle takes place in the middle game at chess World Open in Virginia

Sometimes the finish line isn't the best place to watch a race. At the recent World Open held in Arlington, the ninth and final round featured a minimum of drama on the top boards, as the grandmasters in a position for a big payday preferred to play it safe.

July 16, 2013