David R. Sands

Seniors, juniors battle for U.S. titles in St. Louis

The boomers and the Gen Zers are in the spotlight this week as the St. Louis Chess Club plays host to the U.S. Junior, U.S. Junior Girls and the U.S. Senior Championships. Published July 22, 2025

Fireworks dazzle at Philly, D.C. Independence Day events

The tactical bombs were bursting in air and the positional purple mountains were majestic as area players celebrated another Fourth of July by doing battle at the chessboard. Published July 15, 2025

Brilliancy loss, tournament win for ‘Pragg’

Young Indian GM Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa scored a rare double at the 2nd UzChess Cup Masters Tournament in the Uzbekistan city of Tashkent -- taking first place against a world-class field while losing a game during the tournament to Hungarian GM Richard Rapport that could very well be remembered as the brilliancy of the year. Published July 8, 2025

Coming to America: Honoring the overlooked Lipschutz

As the country prepares to celebrate its 249th birthday later this week, it is worth noting that immigrants have enlivened and enriched American chess virtually from the time the colonies first gained their independence from Britain. Published July 1, 2025

Upstart American claims the chess laurels at Cairns

When organizers go to the trouble and expense of hosting a major international chess tournament, it's customary to reserve a slot or two in the field for a local favorite who may not have qualified by rating or reputation alone. The courtesy invitees are expected to boost local interest and maybe give the top seeds the occasional tough fight. Published June 24, 2025

Lee shines in early Cairns action

The late, great D.C. chess champion Oscar Shapiro, the oldest player ever to earn the master's title and still a dangerous pairing in local tournaments well into his 90s, once told me he bore down especially hard when playing against promising junior players zooming up the ratings charts. Published June 17, 2025

Tantrum aside, Carlsen dominates in Norway

Overcoming a table-thumping tantrum viewed 'round the globe, Norwegian former world chess champion Magnus Carlsen captured his sixth Norway Open title in the past seven years. Published June 10, 2025

A fragrant cherry blossom bouquet shared at Virginia chess tournament

There was an international flavor at the top of the leaderboard at last month's 12th Cherry Blossom Classic in Sterling, Virginia, with Lithuanian GM Titas Stremavicius and Serbian GM Luka Budisavlijevic sharing top honors at 7-2, while foreign-based players claimed seven of the top 10 spots in the strong 50-player event. Published June 3, 2025

A high-class case of losing by resigning

For many beginning players, the trickiest thing about chess is not how to play a game but how to end one. Published May 27, 2025

Czech great Vlastimil Hort dies at 82

The ranks of the great generation of post-World War II chess players lost another luminary last week with the death of Czech-born, German-based GM Vlastimil Hort at the age of 81. Published May 20, 2025

New woes for Yoo after Sardinia win

The troubling saga of young U.S. GM Christopher Woojin Yoo has taken another dark turn -- right on the heels of the promising American junior's most impressive achievement to date over the chessboard. Published May 13, 2025

Geller at 100: A sterling career but never the brass ring

It seems every chess era produces at least one star-crossed player whose path to the top is blocked by an even greater talent. Published May 6, 2025

April shower of chess wins puts Ivanchuk back in the game’s top ranks

Don't look now, but one of the hottest players on the international circuit is a grizzled veteran who first earned his grandmaster spurs in the second Reagan administration. Published April 29, 2025

Ju retains women’s world crown with convincing win over chess rival

She doesn't always get the accolades of her great predecessors, such as Xie Jun and Hou Yifan, but the tenacious Chinese GM Ju Wenjun is carving out her own impressive chess legacy at the top of the women's game. Published April 22, 2025

Ju’s winning streak leaves rival reeling in women’s world chess title clash

Chinese women's world champion GM Ju Wenjun is just a draw away from retaining the title she has held since 2018, using a four-game midmatch winning streak to pull away from compatriot and longtime rival GM Tan Zhongyi in their scheduled 12-game clash in Shanghai and Chongqing. Published April 15, 2025

Even the chess greats falter when endgame pressure mounts

There's no hindsight in chess like endgame hindsight. Published April 8, 2025

April Fools’ gold: Chess deceit and deception in the spirit of the day

With all the pieces visible to both players and all the rules much pretty set in concrete, it's hard to think of a good April Fools' Day joke to play over the board in tournament play that doesn't run the risk of getting you forfeited. Published April 1, 2025

Nakamura tops archrival Caruana to claim American Cup

GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana met again at the just-concluded 2025 American Cup, extending what is likely the most intense and balanced rivalry in the history of American chess. Published March 25, 2025

The greatest match that never was — when Fischer and Karpov didn’t meet

The history of chess is riddled with missed opportunities. Published March 18, 2025

India’s Pranav fits the mold as new world junior chess champ

In a rare double unlikely to be replicated, the new world chess champion is an 18-year-old grandmaster from the Indian city of Chennai, and the new world junior champion is, yep, an 18-year-old grandmaster from the Indian city of Chennai. Published March 11, 2025