David R. Sands

SANDS: Cheating via computer charged, under review

Cheaters never prosper — at least not all the time. The arrival of supercalculating chess programs has brought with it a rash of incidents of cheating in chess, with players and their confederates consulting with programs at critical points in games in hopes of gaining an edge.

June 14, 2011

SANDS: Anand smokes Shirov in Spain

World champion Viswanathan Anand won a tournament and sent a message last week with his 4 1/2-1 1/2 rapid-match triumph over Spanish GM Alexei Shirov in the 24th annual Masters Tournament in the Spanish city of Leon.

June 7, 2011

SANDS: Dogged Gelfand wins shot at title in 2012

He's is generally considered to be just outside the circle of the game's very elite, but Israeli GM Boris Gelfand has always been what they call in baseball a "tough out."

May 31, 2011

SANDS: Challengers prove quick on the draw

The plague of draws continues as FIDE candidates-match finalists Alexander Grischuk of Russia and Boris Gelfand of Israel battle for the right to take on reigning champion Viswanathan Anand of India next year for the world title.

May 24, 2011

SANDS: Kamsky knocked out of world contention

American champion Gata Kamsky is out of the world-title hunt, falling 2-0 to Israeli GM Boris Gelfand in a blitz playoff Monday in their FIDE candidates semifinal match in Kazan, Russia. After the two drew all four games at classical time controls, Kamsky won the first rapid playoff game only to see Gelfand bounce back with the black pieces to square things, forcing the blitz playoff.

May 17, 2011

SANDS: Kamsky pulls surprise in world title hunt

Just days after his grueling repeat triumph in the U.S. national championships, Brooklyn GM Gata Kamsky has upset former world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria to advance to the semifinal round at the FIDE candidates' matches under way in Kazan, Russia. The survivor of the eight-grandmaster scramble later this month qualifies for a date with reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand in a 12-game title match in the first half of 2012.

May 10, 2011

SANDS: Familiar faces capture national, women’s titles

There were some upstart contenders banging on the door, but in the end, it was a pair of familiar names at the top of the wall chart at the U.S. national and women's championships, which finished up last week at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis.

May 3, 2011

SANDS: Kamsky first to land spot in men’s final

New York GM Gata Kamsky, the reigning national champion, was the first through to this year's U.S. Championship final, defeating young challenger GM-elect Sam Shankland 1 1/2- 1/2 in their semifinal match over the weekend at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis.

April 26, 2011

SANDS: GM-elect Shankland sets pace in St. Louis

The action already is intense at the 2011 U.S. Championship tournament, which kicked off play Friday at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis. Two dozen of the country's top players, including defending champ GM Gata Kamsky, are in the hunt, with a two-game championship match between the two top finishers to be held April 26 and 27.

April 19, 2011

SANDS: How Texas Tech crashed the party

The first one is always the hardest -- and the sweetest. As we reported last week, Texas Tech is the new king of college chess, dethroning longtime powerhouses University of Texas-Dallas and the University of Maryland-Baltimore County in the college game's Final Four earlier this month in Herndon.

April 12, 2011

Florida poll offers grim ‘trifecta’ for Obama

A new poll is flashing a major warning sign for President Obama in a state that could prove critical to his 2012 re-election hopes.

April 7, 2011

SANDS: Texas Tech aces the college final

There weren't really any Cinderellas at this Final Four, but an unexpected invitee did walk away with the glass slipper.

April 5, 2011

SANDS: Aronian wins third Amber title in 4 years

Armenian GM Levon Aronian has won his third Amber Blindfold/Rapid title in four years, winning the unique dual-format event over a world-class field with a combined score of 15 1/2-6 1/2. Remarkably, in a field that included reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand and two former world champions, Aronian lost only once in 22 games, to former Russian national champ Alexander Grischuk.

March 29, 2011

SANDS: Kaidanov, Robson claim last title slots

The field is set for next month's 2011 U.S. Championship as veteran GM Gregory Kaidanov and 16-year-old newcomer GM Ray Robson of Florida grabbed the last two spots in the 16-player field.

March 15, 2011

SANDS: There’s a payoff for amazing moves

It's a story that -- like so many tales told about the great masters of the past -- turns out to be totally bogus. When longtime U.S. champion Frank Marshall played one of the most famous moves in the history of the game, thrusting his queen into a "nest of pawns" to defeat Russian master Stefan Lewitzky in a 1912 game in Breslau, Poland, spectators reportedly were so enthralled that they showered the board with gold coins. Marshall was justly proud of the game but later claimed never to have seen a single one of the gold pieces supposedly left in tribute.

March 8, 2011

SANDS: Kamsky faces tough road to title

U.S. GM Gata Kamsky has drawn a tough opening assignment in the world championship qualifying matches, which start in May in Kazan, Russia. Organizers at the international chess federation, FIDE, announced last month that Kamsky will play Bulgarian former world champion Veselin Topalov in the quarter-final match for the right to challenge titleholder Viswanathan Anand of India.

March 2, 2011

SANDS: Hess, 19, thriving on world stage

American chess players seem to have a penchant for spectacular entrances on the international stage.

February 22, 2011

SANDS: Brilliancy prizes from 100 years ago

Another year, another batch of 100-year anniversaries to celebrate. The year 1911 featured two of the most storied international tournaments in the game's history. In the Spanish resort town of San Sebastian, 22-year-old Cuban Jose Raoul Capablanca made a spectacular debut on the international scene, with a first-place result that set him on the road to the world championship 10 years later. The tournament, which featured virtually all the game's best players, save for reigning German world champ Emanuel Lasker, kicked off exactly 100 years ago Sunday.

February 15, 2011

SANDS: Adu rolls to victory in Springfield Open

Northern Virginia IM Oladapo Adu added another trophy to his already ample collection, finishing alone in first at the Springfield Open held during the snowy Jan. 29-30 weekend.

February 9, 2011

Patriot Act reverse surprises House Republicans

The new House Republican leadership faced its first tea party revolt Wednesday evening when the chamber unexpectedly failed to extend key provisions of the USA Patriot Act, the anti-terror law passed in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

February 8, 2011