David R. Sands
Articles by David R. Sands
Shinzo Abe, Japan PM, to head to Iran after Trump summit: Report
Fresh off of hosting President Trump in Tokyo late last month, Japanese Prime Minister ShinzoAbe is planning a three-day trip to U.S. arch-foe Iran next week, the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper reported Monday. Published June 3, 2019
Netanyahu to face new election after failing to form coalition
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces the prospect of facing a national vote for the second time in a year after his efforts to create a new governing coalition broke down Thursday amid feuding by his right-wing negotiating partners. Published May 29, 2019
China amps up threat to curb rare earth exports in U.S. trade clash
Chinese officials have made their most explicit threat to date that they are willing to use their near-monopoly on so-called "rare earth" minerals to force President Trump to back off on his trade war with Beijing. Published May 28, 2019
The women’s chess game thrives in unlikely climes
Why chess is such a male-dominated pastime and why more women do not play the world's greatest game are two rabbit holes we haven't the inclination or the space to go down here. Published May 28, 2019
Official Iranian inflation rate hits 34 percent for last 12 months
Iran's official inflation rate for the 12 months ending in mid-May reached 34.2 percent, another sign that President Trump's pressure campaign on Tehran is having a major impact on the economy. Published May 22, 2019
Magnus Carlsen’s hot chess play ranks with the game’s great streaks
Magnus Carlsen is on a roll. The world's best player is also the world's hottest player, as the Norwegian world champ has run up a spectacular string of top-flight wins this spring, including four straight first-place finishes -- Tata Steel, Shamkir, Grenke and, last week, the rapid/blitz Grand Chess Tour event in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Published May 21, 2019
Canada claims victory in U.S. trade clash over tariffs
Canadian political and business leaders claimed victory Friday after President Trump announced the U.S. will roll back hefty year-old tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from its NAFTA partners Canada and Mexico. Published May 17, 2019
Chess a tough game for tough times in Venezuela, Syria
Just last month, two countries facing some pretty challenging times -- Syria and Venezuela -- managed not only to hold their national chess title tournaments but to produce some intriguing, dynamic games in the process. Published May 15, 2019
Putin’s Crimea adventure proves economic loser
Russian President Vladimir Putin's annexation of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 is proving a loser for the Russian economy, costing at least $30 billion annually in lost business, subsidies and a worsening investment climate, a top analyst said Monday. Published May 13, 2019
Fifty-plus is the new No. 1 as U.S. captures senior chess team gold
Our oldies are goodies. Justifying their top seeding, the U.S. 50-and-over squad took clear first in last month's World Senior Teams Championship in Rhodes, Greece. The team won eight of nine matches in the 26-team competition, conceding only one drawn match with Iceland. Published May 7, 2019
FIDE’s (latest) updated chess title match rules — there’s a lot to like
For such a supposedly cerebral, analytical game, chess has had the darnedest time over the centuries trying to figure out one basic question: Who's the best player in the world? Published April 30, 2019
Maduro denounces ‘coup’ in Venezuela, claims military support
Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro claimed Tuesday the country's military is sticking with him and vowed to crush what he called a coup attempt by U.S.-backed opposition leader Juan Guaido. Published April 30, 2019
Vladimir Putin to go stag to World War II celebration as no foreign leader coming
Russia said Monday that none of President Vladimir Putin's peers will be on hand for this year's Victory Day celebration marking the Soviet Union's part in the victory over Nazi Germany. Published April 29, 2019
Chessgate debunked: Mueller finds no collusion in Trump-FIDE ‘ties’
Talk about burying the lede -- or at least the footnote. The "mainstream media" may be afraid to report it, but we can reliably pass on here that chess played a major cameo role in special counsel Robert Mueller's magisterial/hopelessly biased report/witch hunt into the Trump-Russiagate scandal/hoax. (Hey, chessplayers watch both Fox and MSNBC.) Published April 23, 2019
In taxing times, a tip of the eyeshade to accountant chess stars
On this, their Super Bowl Week, let's hear it for the accountants. And while no CPA ever won the world chess title, some came very close. Published April 16, 2019
Assange, Stalin score high in Russian polls
Detained WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and deceased Soviet dictator Josef Stalin have something in common -- both score well in new Russian opinion polls released Tuesday. Published April 16, 2019
Emmanuel Macron on Notre Dame fire: ‘Worst has been avoided’
French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday night that "the worst has been avoided, but the battle has not been fully won," as he briefed the nation on the fire that engulfed the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Published April 15, 2019
Assange won’t face death penalty if extradited: Ecuador president
Ecuadoran President Lenin Moreno on Thursday defended his decision to lift the protections that prevented British police from arresting Julian Assange, but said in a video that he had also received assurances in writing from the U.K. government that the WikiLeaks founder would not be extradited to a country where he might face torture or the death penalty. Published April 11, 2019
Rio Grande Valley again the toast of Texas with chess Final Four repeat
It seems the valiant Texas Tech Red Raiders came up just short against my Virginia Cavaliers in the men's college basketball, but another Lone Star State college Cinderella managed to dance the final triumphant dance this week. Published April 9, 2019
Veteran Hikaru Nakamura, newcomer Jennifer Yu take top honors at U.S. chess title tourneys
"Yu be Yu" proved a winning formula as WGM Jennifer Yu, of Ashburn, Virginia, scored a sensational 10-1 to claim her first U.S. women's national title. The 17-year-old Yu was so dominant that she clinched the title at the Chess Club of St. Louis with a round to spare last week, besting an exceptionally strong field by 2 1/2 . Published April 2, 2019
