David R. Sands
Articles by David R. Sands
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te vows to resist Chinese threats to sovereignty in national address
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te said Thursday that his government would resist any attempt at forced annexation, in a closely-watched National Day address to the nation that brought an immediate -- and furious -- reaction from China. Published October 10, 2024
Low-profile Stanley, Levitina secure their places in chess Halls of Fame
The U.S. Chess Hall of Fame and the World Chess Hall of Fame are inducting the 2024 class of honorees this month, featuring a roster of some of the game's best-known stars of yesteryear -- and a couple of worthy but less prominent names. Published October 8, 2024
On attack’s anniversary, Israel takes the fight to its foes
Oct. 7, 2023, ranks as the bleakest day in modern Israeli history, when a massive Hamas surprise attack killed more than 1,200 civilians, captured hundreds of hostages and humiliated the country's vaunted intelligence and military services. But a year later, it's a very different picture. Published October 6, 2024
Hundreds of teams and thousands of storylines at 45th Chess Olympiad
With some 357 open and women's teams and more than 7,700 games played, let's just concede right at the top that it's impossible to keep up with even a fraction of the storylines from the recent 45th Chess Olympiad hosted by Budapest, which drew the largest turnout in the event's history. Published October 1, 2024
Power shift: Indian teams sweep the golds at 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest
At the Paris Olympics this summer, Indian athletes went home with zero gold medals. The country's chess players more than made up for it at the just-completed 45th Chess Olympiad in Budapest, with both the open and women's teams taking home the gold. Published September 24, 2024
Russia taunts debate candidates, while others hold back on Trump-Harris clash
Foreign policy and Russia's war in Ukraine took up a sizable chunk of Tuesday night's 90-minute debate between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump. Published September 11, 2024
Grudge match: Carlsen ousts Niemann on way to fourth speed chess title
Former world champ Magnus Carlsen reclaimed a crown and settled a score on his way to winning his fourth world Speed Chess Championship over an elite field in Paris last week. Published September 10, 2024
CIA Director Burns says U.S., West shouldn’t be intimidated by Kremlin’s nuclear threats in Ukraine
The U.S. and its allies should not be "unnecessarily intimidated" by Russian threats to unleash its nuclear arsenal as Ukraine presses for more offensive weaponry to turn back a Russian invading force, CIA Director William Burns said this weekend. Published September 8, 2024
Analyze this: Chess rational and irrational
It's a dirty little secret we're not supposed to discuss, but the games you tend to see in instruction books, brilliancy anthologies and (ahem) newspaper columns don't always accurately reflect chess as it is actually played by the vast majority of us. Like a TV sitcom that wraps up a major life crisis in 22 tidy minutes, your typical chess annotator is looking for games with an intelligible opening, a logical development, a satisfying denouement and (at most) one improbable change of fortune. Published September 3, 2024
Ukraine ready to talk peace as Russia fumes; Zelenskyy to brief Biden, Harris, Trump on proposal
Ukraine, having seized the initiative on the battlefield against Russia with its recent sortie deep into enemy territory, is looking to go on the offensive diplomatically as well. Published August 28, 2024
Brilliancies and blunders as Sinquefield Cup nears the finish line
The 11th Sinquefield Cup is rounding the final turn at the St. Louis Chess Club, with some of the world's top grandmasters still in the running for the top prize. Published August 27, 2024
Celebrating D.C.’s role as the ‘cradle of Black chess in America’
"As a matter of fact, one can claim the greater Washington D.C. metropolitan area was the cradle for Black chess in America." Local writer and two-time D.C. chess champion Gregory Kearse made that claim in a seminal 1998 article for Chess Life, which noted that the thriving local area chess scene in the 1960s helped develop the first officially rated African American chess masters -- Walter Hill. Ken Clayton and Frank Street -- and helped nurture a new generation of strong Black players such as William Morrison, Vincent Moore, Emory Tate and Baraka Shabazz. Published August 20, 2024
Keep it short: A late summer bouquet of chess miniatures
For the DMV chess community, the mid-August lull puts us in that nice pocket between the very successful, just-completed U.S. Open hosted by Norfolk and the end-of-summer milestone that is the District's 56th Atlantic Open, which starts Aug. 23 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. Published August 13, 2024
J.D. Vance defends Trump’s handling of dictators after rally comment
Former President Trump's occasional praise of authoritarian leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping makes him "more effective diplomatically," Sen. J.D. Vance, Mr. Trump's running mate, argued Sunday. Published August 11, 2024
Ex-nuclear negotiator tapped to be Iran’s next foreign minister even as pressure to hit Israel grows
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has nominated a diplomat who was involved in the negotiations for the now-defunct 2015 Iran nuclear deal to serve as his foreign minister, even as the new administration faces growing domestic pressure to respond to a suspected Israeli strike that killed a Hamas leader in Tehran last month. Published August 11, 2024
With Walz pick, both parties have a military vet on the ticket for the first time in 2 decades
Veterans are back on the tickets. Vice President Kamala Harris' choice of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her Democratic running mate means both major parties will include a military veteran for the first time since 2004, when President George W. Bush faced Sen. John Kerry. Published August 6, 2024
With Norfolk as host, Khanin claims hard-fought U.S. Open
It was a fight to the finish as grandmasters from Russia and China topped the leaderboard at the 124th U.S. Open, which wrapped up play in Norfolk, Virginia, with a scintillating final round and playoff Sunday. Published August 6, 2024
A trio of champs: Yoo, Lee, Akopian claim U.S. national chess titles
The U.S. has a generation-spanning trio of new champs as the U.S. Senior, Junior and Junior Girls Championships were all decided at the Chess Club of St. Louis last week. GM Vladimir Akopian picked up his first American senior title in style, dusting a field that included such veterans as GMs Joel Benjamin, Alex Shabalov and Gregory Kaidanov and clinching the title with a round to spare with an undefeated 7-2 score. Published July 30, 2024
An Olympic Games debut for chess in Paris — 100 years ago
Chess won't be winning any medals at the Paris Olympic Games that open later this week, but it was a very different story at the Paris Games 100 years ago. The 1924 Paris Games played a little-known role in kicking off one of the great international traditions in the game, a tradition that is still going strong. Published July 23, 2024
European leaders praise Biden as he steps aside, while Russia holds its fire
Praise -- and a few early notes of caution -- poured in from friendly world leaders Sunday in the wake of the news that President Biden is quitting the race against former President Donald Trump. Published July 21, 2024
