David R. Sands
Articles by David R. Sands
Obama administration under fire in gay marriage arguments
Gay marriage is on trial but it was the Obama administration facing the heat as the Supreme Court began the second of two days of landmark oral arguments on the constitutionality of gay marriage. Published March 27, 2013
SANDS: Carlsen sets the pace in candidates chess tournament
World No. 1 GM Magnus Carlsen of Norway is the leader at the half-post in the FIDE Candidates Tournament now under way in London. Co-leader Levon Aronian suffered his first loss of the event in Monday's Round 9 against Israel GM Boris Gelfand, leaving Carlsen alone in first by a half-point in the double round-robin event. Published March 26, 2013
SANDS: Aronian grabs the early lead in London challenger chess tourney
With wins over Israeli Boris Gelfand and Ukraine’s Vassily Ivanchuk in successive rounds, world No. 3 Levon Aronian is the early leader in the FIDE candidates’ tournament that kicked off Friday in London. Aronian held a half-point lead over top-seeded Magnus Carlsen of Norway and Russian GM Peter Svidler, both at 2-1, going into Monday’s first rest day. Published March 19, 2013
SANDS: Brilliant win, brilliant loss a round apart at chess championship
Chinese WGM Ju Wenjun starred in both roles — in consecutive rounds — at the FIDE Women’s World Teams Championship now wrapping up in Astana, Kazakhstan. The event has attracted the 10 strongest female squads in the world for a round-robin championship. Big losses to the Chinese and Georgians have left the American women on the outside looking in, although they did bounce back Sunday with a 2½-1½ upset of the powerful Russian women’s team. Published March 12, 2013
Sheet Music’s last note: Magazine puts out last issue as number of piano players plunges
Magazines going out of business isn’t exactly big news these days, but this one hurts: Sheet Music Magazine informed its dwindling band of mostly aging subscribers this month that it is shutting down after nearly 3,000 songs and 36 years of putting out “the Magazine You Can Play.” The fall 2012 issue marked the end. Published March 12, 2013
SANDS: Princeton chess squad tops crowded field at Amateur East
Tiger! Tiger! Tiger! That old Princeton cheer is apropos as the Princeton University A team posted the only 6-0 score to take last month’s Amateur Team East Championship at its traditional home in Parsippany, N.J. Published March 5, 2013
SANDS: From Italy, at long last, a renaissance in chess fortunes
It has been a bit of a fallow period for the past few centuries or so, but Italian chess may finally be experiencing its Renaissance. Published February 26, 2013
SANDS: In famous small town, chess attack is in the water
It's been a famous spa resort dating back to the Roman Empire days, so it's no surprise that there seems to be something in the water in the Black Forest town of Baden-Baden. Published February 19, 2013
SANDS: Old-fashioned pleasures of a rattling good chess attack
Shelves of books — and reams of columns — have been written on the importance of positional play, the variety of pawn structures, the art of the endgame and the subtleties of the 16...a6 line of the Nimzo-Peloponnesian Benko Gambit Reversed. But in their heart of hearts, even the most sophisticated players would prefer to execute a rattling good attack leading to neat checkmate. Published February 12, 2013
SANDS: A radical approach arises to teach the game of chess
Name-checking Borges, Foucault, P.T. Barnum, Stephen Pinker and Mao Zedong along the way, Dutch IM Willy Hendriks has written a chess instruction manual quite unlike any other in the literature. Published February 5, 2013
Wall Street greets jobless increase with new rally
U.S. stock markets shrugged off an uptick in the national employment rate, with the Dow Jones Industrial Index crossing the 14,000 mark for the first time since 2007 in early trading Friday. The Dow fell back below that benchmark later in the morning, but was still up more than 100 points, or nearly 1 percent. Published February 1, 2013
SANDS: Carlsen steamrolls elite chess field in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands
Not since the days of Thor has a Norwegian wielded such a mighty hammer. Obliterating a world-class field, Norway superstar GM Magnus Carlsen has taken the first major tournament of the year, winning the elite Tata Steel “A” Tournament with a stunning 10-3 score, matching the record total for the event set by former world champion and onetime Carlsen coach Garry Kasparov. Published January 29, 2013
SANDS: Wijk aan Zee presents Dutch bounty of chess action
Like one of those busy Pieter Bruegel peasant harvest paintings that seem to be breaking out of the frame, the annual blowout Tata Steel Tournament at the Dutch coastal city of Wijk aan Zee features an almost overflowing bounty of chess. There's a huge nine-round Swiss event for amateurs, a seven-round rapid tournament and, of course, three -- count 'em, three -- 14-player invitational round-robin tournaments in which the weakest "C" tournament boasts six grandmasters and an average rating of over 2460. Published January 22, 2013
Barack H. Obama drops Hussein from inauguration ceremony
The Barack Hussein Obama of 2009 has been replaced in President Obama's second inaugural celebration by "Barack H. Obama." Published January 21, 2013
SANDS: Tradition chess towns host strong events
The first great tournament of the new year kicked off Saturday with the 75th Tata Steel Tournament in the fabled Dutch chess town of Wijk aan Zee, with an all-star field in the premiere event capped by world No. 1 seed Magnus Carlsen of Norway, Armenian star Levon Aronian and U.S. champion Hikaru Nakamura. Published January 14, 2013
Tennessee chamber sets quota on bills for members
Taking the concept of limited government to the next level, the Republican-controlled Tennessee House of Representatives this week passed a rule capping the number of bills a member can introduce each year at 15. Published January 12, 2013
Deal saves Wonder Bread; Twinkies still in limbo
Bankrupt bakery giant Hostess Brands Inc. has announced a tentative agreement to sell its Wonder Bread brand to archrival Flower Foods Inc., maker of Tastykakes, while it continues to seek a buyer for its iconic snack line of Twinkies, Devil Dogs and Ho Hos, among others. Published January 12, 2013
Report: Armstrong to confess doping to Oprah
Disgraced cycling star Lance Armstrong is poised to admit he took performance-enhancing drugs during a career that included seven Tour de France victories, according to a published report. Published January 12, 2013
Obama: Sorry, no Death Star for you
While conceding its potential contributions to job creation and defense against intergalactic threats, the Obama administration officially announced this week that a U.S. Death Star "is not on the horizon." Published January 12, 2013
Obama: Time to come home from Afghanistan
A day after meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the White House, President Obama used his weekly radio address to highlight the progress made in the fight against terrorists there and make the case it is time for the U.S. involvement to end. Published January 12, 2013
