David R. Sands

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

A relieved George Zimmerman not guilty; verdict stirs emotion across the country

A Florida jury late Saturday cleared George Zimmerman of any criminal charges in the February 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin, rejecting the state’s case that the neighborhood watch volunteer had stalked and killed the unarmed black teenager.

July 13, 2013

SANDS: Negi and Gang of 10 capture big local chess events

The Northern Virginia suburbs have been the focus of the U.S. chess world for the past two weeks, hosting two high-profile events back-to-back in Crystal City, including the first-ever World Open in the event's four-decade history not held in New York or Philadelphia.

July 9, 2013

SANDS: Naroditsky confirms promise with junior chess title

You know someone is precocious when he publishes an instructional manual on positional chess — the subtlest aspect of the game and the most difficult to master — before his 15th birthday.

July 2, 2013

SANDS: Moscow battle hints at championship fight

The mashup between chess and boxing is all the rage these days, with "chessboxing" clubs springing up all over the globe and reports that a Kickstarter campaign has just been launched to fund a documentary on the phenomenon. Contestants alternate games at the board and rounds in the ring, with lots of airy talk about the parallels between cerebral and physical combat skills involved.

June 25, 2013

SANDS: A great game honors chess tournament namesake

"Nezhmetdinovesque" is a mouthful as an adjective, but for any lover of superlatively imaginative attacking play, it perfectly describes their favorite kind of chess.

June 18, 2013

Russia rejects U.S. claims on Syria; Britain’s Cameron backs Obama shift

Russia, a longtime ally of embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, Friday rejected new U.S. assertions that the regime had crossed President Obama's "red line" by deploying chemical weapons against rebels in the country's bloody civil war.

June 14, 2013

SANDS: Dominguez Perez surprises with first-place finish in Greece

It may be the best result by a Cuban star since the great world champion Jose Raoul Capablanca departed the scene: Cuban GM Lenier Dominguez Perez, a solid but not spectacular player on the elite scene, took sole first earlier this month at the FIDE Grand Prix tournament in Thessaloniki, Greece.

June 11, 2013

SANDS: Iron man Kamsky falls just short in Thessaloniki in chess tourney

American GM Gata Kamsky came up just short of a remarkable double this week, blundering in a level position Monday against Italian GM Fabiano Caruana in the final round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Thessaloniki, Greece, to allow Cuban GM Lenier Dominguez Perez to pass him for the tournament title.

June 4, 2013

SANDS: Two top chess grandmasters fall in miniatures in Greece

After a long weekend, let's go with a couple of really short games. In an age of vast game databases, computer-aided study and 25 move-deep opening theory, it's remarkable how even the world's very best players can get themselves into trouble before the game has barely begun.

May 28, 2013

SANDS: Remembering German chess grandmaster Schmid

He was one of the game's greatest tacticians, equally at home on offense and defense in the most complicated situations. He was masterful at disarming a volatile, unpredictable opponent, and he held his own against the greatest players the game has ever known. He also played chess pretty well.

May 21, 2013

SANDS: Kamsky tops Ramirez in playoff for U.S. chess title

Breaking news — It came down to a single "armageddon" playoff game, but top-seeded GM Gata Kamsky claimed the 2013 U.S. championship in a thrilling finish Monday at the Chess Club Scholastic Center of St. Louis. He defeated Texas GM Alejandro Ramirez in a rapid playoff after the two finished atop the 24-player field with 6½-2½ scores.

May 14, 2013

Late moves gave Sanford new life in S.C. House fight

Republican Mark Sanford's campaign for South Carolina's open House seat was slumping two weeks ago when he gambled on a stunt many at the time ridiculed: He "debated" a life-size poster-photo of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

May 7, 2013