David R. Sands
Articles by David R. Sands
DAVID R. SANDS: After 26 years at the top, Judit Polgar surpassed by Chinese chess challenger
She hasn't exactly been dethroned, but Hungarian GM Judit Polgar's reign as the ratings queen of women's chess has finally come to an end after an astonishing 26 years of supremacy. Published March 10, 2015
Strong U.S. jobs report raises pressure on Fed to boost rates
The U.S. jobs machine showed no signs of the winter blues as employers added 295,000 jobs in February, exceeding analyst expectations and marking the 12th straight month with gains of 200,000 or more, the Labor Department announced Friday. Published March 6, 2015
DAVID R. SANDS: The joys of kibitzing by computer in chess
They've made some things a bit more complicated — problem-solving contests and correspondence chess, to name two — but superstrong computer programs have not proved the death of competitive chess that some feared. Published March 4, 2015
Pakistan envoy: Iran nuke deal would lower tensions, boost projects
While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warning in his Tuesday address to Congress that Iran's neighbors feared the potential nuclear agreement now being negotiated by the Obama administration and its international partners, at least one of those neighbors said it is rooting strongly that a deal can be struck. Published March 3, 2015
DAVID R. SANDS: Virginia Assassins surprise with win at Amateur East chess tourney
It's the biggest, rowdiest team competition in American chess, and an unheralded Virginia team has taken home the blue ribbon. Published February 24, 2015
DAVID R. SANDS: Nakamura rocks Gibraltar, reclaims top U.S. rating slot in chess
Top-ranked U.S. GM Hikaru Nakamura rules the Rock, having just won this year's edition of the strong Tradewise Gibraltar open tournament on the British Mediterranean outpost with an 8½-1½ score. Nakamura, now being challenged by rising GM Wesley So as the top-rated American player, didn't drop a game, defeating ex-world champion Veselin Topalov and Chinese star GM Yu Yangyi along the way. Published February 10, 2015
Angela Merkel takes tough line on Greece ahead of key meeting
German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave no sign Monday she's ready to ease the hard line she has taken with the new government in Greece over its financial crisis, saying the austerity package her government has demanded remains the "basis of any discussion we have" with Athens over a new bailout. Published February 9, 2015
Hiring strong, but U.S. jobless rate ticks up to 5.7 percent
The U.S. job machine continued to fire on all cylinders in January, adding a higher-than-expected 257,000 jobs while estimates of previous monthly growth were also revised sharply higher, the government reported Friday. Published February 6, 2015
DAVID R. SANDS: Another rising Chinese star makes his mark on chess
China's women have already taken the chess world by storm, and now the Chinese men are trying to follow in their path. Published February 2, 2015
Minister: ‘No’ role for FARC after Colombia peace deal
There will be no role for Colombia’s leftist FARC guerrilla movement in the nation’s armed forces even if peace talks now underway produce an end to the country’s long civil war, Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said Friday. Published January 30, 2015
Venezuela hits Ford profits with Nicolas Maduro currency, market controls
Its economy is in free fall, inflation is soaring and its dominant export — oil — is plummeting in value, but Venezuela is still making its impact felt as some of America's biggest corporate names release their latest quarterly earnings statements. Published January 29, 2015
Fed holds firm, gives no hint of rate hike
Interest rates will remain at historic lows for the time being as the Federal Reserve finished a two-day meeting without announcing a shift in policy. Published January 28, 2015
Strong dollar weakens earnings, competitiveness for top U.S. companies
Some of America's biggest and best-known companies are paying the price for the country's economic strength, as the surging U.S. dollar is cutting into foreign sales and profits across of a slew of industries. Published January 27, 2015
DAVID R. SANDS: Magnus Carlsen streaks to win in first major chess tourney of 2015
Remarkably, his last tournament win came April, but world champion Magnus Carlsen was back in a familiar place — first — at the just-concluded Tata Steel Masters tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, the first elite super GM gathering of the year. Published January 27, 2015
DAVID R. SANDS: Magnus Carlsen in charge as Tata chess tourney enters the home stretch
An impressive five-game win streak has put world champion Magnus Carlsen in the driver's seat at the first major tournament of 2015. Published January 20, 2015
Weak holiday retail numbers clouds U.S. recovery hopes
U.S. retail sales unexpectedly tumbled nearly 1 percent in December, the Commerce Department announced Wednesday, sending U.S. stock markets lower and leading at least one analyst to says it's time to pump the brakes on talk of a strong U.S. economic rebound in 2015. Published January 14, 2015
DAVID R. SANDS: Rough start for young U.S. chess star as Tata battles get underway
It's been a rough hazing for America's newest — and youngest — grandmaster as 14-year-old New Yorker Sam Sevian suffered two losses and a draw out of the gate at the Tata Steel Challengers tournament that got underway last week in the storied chess town of Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. Published January 13, 2015
No religion safe from satire of Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, writers
A ring of Roman Catholic cardinals voting on a new pope are drawn engaged in group gay sex. A mock movie ad for "Untouchables 2" shows a Jewish rabbi pushing a Muslim imam seated in a wheelchair. Singer Michael Jackson is depicted as a dancing skeleton just days after his fatal drug overdose. President Obama tries to "reassure" white American voters by asking a hooded KKK member to be his running mate. Published January 7, 2015
DAVID R. SANDS: Alexander Ivanov adds to his collection of Eastern Open chess titles
With his closest pursuers all winning, veteran Massachusetts GM Alexander Ivanov came through with a last-round win over D.C. master Srdjan Darmanovic to capture the 41st annual Eastern Open last month, a Washington year-end tradition held at the Doubletree Hotel in Bethesda. Published January 6, 2015
Invisible Children, group behind Joseph Kony video, will slim operations
While notorious Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony remains — for now — at large, the organization that did the most to spotlight his crimes and spark an international manhunt for his capture is closing down its mission in Uganda as part of a major downsizing. Published December 31, 2014
