David R. Sands

Young Yanks shine as Tata chess tournaments heat up

America's biggest guns are sitting this one out, but three young Yanks are making a strong impression at the first elite chess tournament of the new year. Published January 27, 2026

Guilty pleasure: Elementary mistakes from top players at Tata Steel Chess Masters

The study of chess has long been enriched by a mini-glossary of great German words, from zwischenzug (a surprise "in-between" move) and zeitnot (a lack of time on the clock to calculate) to sitzfleisch (the stamina to sit on one's, er, wallet and stay focused when one's queen-and-pawn endgame passes the seven-hour mark). Published January 20, 2026

Campus champ: Webster University claims another college chess title

College football fans know that this has been a down year for dynasties. If you're a fan of college chess, by contrast, you know that Goliath is alive, well and still king of the hill. Published January 13, 2026

A parade of chess winners marches into the new year

The rush of year-end tournaments near and far means a lot of chess players can welcome in 2026 with a very good feeling about how 2025 came to a close. Published January 6, 2026

Remembering Spassky, Naroditsky as a busy chess year closes

For such a logical game, chess can be quite contrary when it wants to be. The Christmas-to-New Year's Day lull, for instance, when much of the world slows down to focus on presents and parties, is paradoxically one of the busiest weeks on the global chess calendar. Published December 30, 2025

Some early holiday cheer for young chess champs in Spokane, Washington

'Tis the season -- and the week -- of great anticipation for children all over the world. And some of those children are not waiting until Dec. 25 to claim the presents under the tree. Published December 23, 2025

Indian phenom in chess snags last berth in Candidates’ field

Indian GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa -- "Pragg" to his friends and space-stressed headline writers everywhere -- has snagged the eighth and final slot in next spring's Candidates tournament, riding a string of strong results this year that began with a win at the elite Tata Steel Masters in January and wrapped up with a tie for first in the just-completed London Chess Classic Open. Published December 16, 2025

Best of Chess freeware serves up only the fun stuff

Santa has come a little early this year, if you happen to be a chess columnist pressed for high-entertainment content during the holiday season. Published December 9, 2025

Unlikely trio joins race to challenge chess champ Gukesh

The field of grandmasters competing in the next spring's Candidates Tournament to pick a challenger to reigning world champ GM Dommaraju Gukesh of India is now all but set, and one thing is for sure: There will be a lot of dark horses in the stable when the clocks start in Cyprus on March 28. Published December 2, 2025

Narrow escapes, reasons for gratitude at the chessboard

In this week of giving thanks, perhaps no one has greater cause for gratitude than Chinese GM Wei Yi. Published November 25, 2025

Dulles tourney puts Nakamura over the top in title quest

If American GM Hikaru Nakamura succeeds in his quest to become the first American world chess champion since Bobby Fischer abdicated the throne 50 years ago, let the record show the crucial contributions provided by Tanush Dokka, Khanim Ismayilova, FM Matthew Guo Diao, IM Susal Thewjan De Silva and GM Praveen Balakrishnan. Published November 18, 2025

Local boy makes good: Ginsburg shares world senior title

It sounds like a paradox, but the D.C. area is becoming something of a cradle for senior world champions. Published November 11, 2025

Suba’s originality helped reshape modern chess

Grandmaster Mihai Suba, who died last week at the age of 78, had a distinguished career at the chessboard. Published November 4, 2025

Naroditsky’s death casts pall over U.S. title tournaments

It was a wrenching week of the familiar and the unfathomable for American chess. Published October 28, 2025

Fierce fights as U.S. title tourneys near climax

It's just past the halfway point in the U.S. open and women's national championship tournaments, with fierce fights for the crown still very much up in the air at this point. Published October 21, 2025

An Oktoberfest toast to a German chess breakthrough

Appropriately for this Oktoberfest season, German chess is having a moment. Published October 14, 2025

Two very different glimpses into the future of chess

We have just been given a peek at the possible future of chess -- in more ways than one. Published October 7, 2025

At 100, an iconoclast’s ‘System’ still packs a punch

In 1925, the German-language edition of Aron Nimzowitsch's "Mein System" hit the bookstores, laying out for the first time in comprehensive fashion the key principles of the newfangled hypermodern school of chess. Published September 30, 2025

Young U.S. stars shine in FIDE Swiss battle

There has been a lot of buzz recently (including in this space) about a rising generation of young Indian chess stars poised to dominate the game in the coming years. Published September 23, 2025