David R. Sands
Articles by David R. Sands
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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published May 7, 2013
SANDS: Kamsky, Krush hold lead in U.S. chess title chase
Top seeds GM Gata Kamsky and IM Irina Krush are setting the early pace at the U.S. men's and women's championships that got underway Friday at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis, with each posting three wins in their first three games. Published May 7, 2013
Dow cracks 15,000 mark after jobs report
Wall Street rocketed into record territory Friday after the government released its latest jobs report, with the Dow Jones index of 30 top stocks cracking the 15,000 mark for the first time in history. Stocks retreated later in the day, but still posted a record closing price of 14,973.96, up 142.38 points or 0.96 percent. Published May 3, 2013
Beleaguered H&R Block offers refund of its own: Gift cards for customers
Tax preparation giant H&R Block, embarrassed by a filing glitch this tax season that contributed to a delay in refunds for hundreds of thousands of clients, is offering up a refund of its own with a $25 gift credit card to those affected. Published May 3, 2013
SANDS: Top chess players in action at home and abroad
It's an embarrassment of riches for a chess journalist these days, with not one but two major tournaments in progress across the pond and the U.S. championships gearing up to start in St. Louis later this week. Published April 30, 2013
SANDS: Kaidanov, Karff voted into U.S. Chess Hall of Fame
From Kashdan, Koltanowski and Keres back in the day to Korchnoi, Karpov and Kasparov in the modern era, the "K" section of the encyclopedia has long been a thick and fertile source of chess greatness. Published April 23, 2013
Ruslan Tsarni says nephews Dzhokhar and Tamerlan are ‘losers’
The Maryland uncle for the two brothers suspected in Monday's Boston Marathon bombing angrily denounced his nephews as "losers" who failed to assimilate into American society, while saying it was a "fraud" to suggest their Islamic faith was to blame the attack. Published April 19, 2013
Dzhokhar Tsarnaev talked of Islamic faith: Moscow paper
Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said on his Russian social media page that his world view was "Islam," while his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev talked about being "very religious" and complained there "are no values anymore," according to an English-language Russian newspaper. Published April 19, 2013
George Beverly Shea, the Rev. Billy Graham’s longtime soloist, dies at 104
Grammy-winning gospel singer George Beverly Shea, an integral part of the ministry of Rev. Billy Graham for more than seven decades, died Tuesday after a brief illness at the age of 104, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association announced. Published April 17, 2013
SANDS: GM Robert Byrne, chess columnist, dies at age 84
We were going to start this week's column with a preview of the coming Anand-Carlsen world title match when word came over the weekend of the passing of New York GM Robert Byrne at the age of 84. Published April 16, 2013
SANDS: In defeat, Kramnik joins a storied chess group
Norwegian GM Magnus Carlsen's moonwalking gambit getting ahead while moving backward inspires some thoughts on some of the game's most famous losses over the years. Published April 9, 2013
