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David R. Sands

David R. Sands

David R. Sands covered numerous beats, including international trade, banking, politics and Capitol Hill, and spent eight years on the foreign desk as senior diplomatic correspondent. He has authored The Times' weekly chess column since 1993.

Articles by David R. Sands

Ahues-Muller(?) White to move.

Generous to a fault at the chessboard

Painful as it is to concede, we have to admit that chess makes an uneasy fit with this season of generosity and gift-giving. Published December 30, 2021

Benko -- White to play and mate in three.

Chess for Christmas, confounding and consoling

'Tis the season to be -- a little melancholy, if you want to know the truth. Chess lovers have a lot to be thankful for these days, but there's an undeniable post-world championship match letdown now that Magnus Carlsen has successfully defended his crown -- again. And for a second straight holiday season, the specter of COVID-19 is hanging over the game. Published December 21, 2021

Members of the Jehovah's Witnesses attend a court session in Perm, Russia, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. A court in the Russian city of Perm handed suspended sentences to five members of the Jehovah's Witnesses on Wednesday in connection with their beliefs. Russia banned the Jehovah's Witnesses in 2017 and declared it an extremist group, exposing all of its followers to prosecution. All five were handed suspended sentences between 2.5 and 7 years. (AP Photo/Anastasia Yakovleva)

U.S. joins appeal condemning repression of Jehovah’s Witnesses

The U.S. and six other countries Friday issued a joint declaration condemning repression of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the evangelizing Christian denomination that has faced severe state opposition in many of the countries where it operates. Published December 17, 2021

Russian President Vladimir Putin talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021. Chinese President Xi Jinping supported Russian President Vladimir Putin in his push to get Western security guarantees precluding NATO's eastward expansion, the Kremlin said Wednesday after the two leaders held a virtual summit. Putin and Xi spoke as Moscow faces heightened tensions with the West over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine's border. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin RSVPs for Olympics in warm talk with China’s Xi

It doesn't rank as a big surprise, but Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Wednesday he won't be honoring President Biden's call for a "diplomatic boycott" of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. Published December 15, 2021

Blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski, stands back to camera inside a cage, in a court room in remand prison in Gomel, Belarus, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. A court in Belarus on Tuesday sentenced the husband of the country's opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to 18 years in prison, six months after the trial began behind closed doors. The charges against Siarhei Tsikhanouski included organizing mass unrest and inciting hatred and have been widely seen as politically motivated. (Sergei Kholodilin/BelTA via AP)

Harsh prison terms for top democracy activists spark sharp Western criticism

The Biden administration and leading European allies on Tuesday forcefully condemned an 18-year jail sentence handed down to the husband of 2020 opposition presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, with the U.S. ambassador to Minsk calling it another "unjust" and "vengeful" act by the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Published December 14, 2021

Magnus Carlsen of Norway competes during the FIDE World Championship at Dubai Expo 2020 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Friday, Dec. 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell)

Magnus Carlsen retains world chess crown with brilliant attack in clinching game

Norwegian world chess champion Magnus Carlsen has successfully defended his title for the fourth time, clinching his match against Russian challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi with a powerful attack with the Black pieces in the 11th and final game of their scheduled 14-game match in Dubai Friday. Published December 10, 2021

In this Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020 file photo, the logo of Apple is illuminated at a store in the city center in Munich, Germany. U.S. tech giant Apple Inc. cut a deal with Chinese officials to protect its business lines in the country, working with government regulators on rules that would allow the company to operate more freely in the country while supporting key government priorities, according to a published report. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)

Apple cut deal with Beijing government to protect Chinese business lines: report

U.S. tech giant Apple Inc. cut a deal with Chinese officials to protect its business lines in the country, working with government regulators on rules that would allow the company to operate more freely in the country while supporting key government priorities, according to a published report. Published December 7, 2021

Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi, Game 6, after 130. Kh3.

Magnus Carlsen takes control of chess title match after challenger’s blunder

It took 136 moves in one game and one fateful oversight in another, but we finally got a pair of decisive results from the title match between Norwegian champion Magnus Carlsen and Russian challenger GM Ian Nepomniachtchi in their scheduled 14-game match just past the halfway point in Dubai. Published December 7, 2021