David R. Sands
Articles by David R. Sands
Netanyahu recalls delegation to Washington after U.S. lets U.N. cease-fire measure pass
The rift between Israel and the United States widened dramatically Monday as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called off a trip by a top-level delegation to Washington to protest the U.S. failure to block a new U.N. Security Resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire in the war. Published March 25, 2024
OK, it’s a ‘war’: Russia upgrades ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine
The Kremlin is conceding for the first time that its invasion of Ukraine launched more than two years ago and which has generated hundreds of thousands of casualties on both sides is, in fact, a "war." Published March 22, 2024
A divided world makes for a divided chess landscape
The good news: The Aeroflot Open, long one of the world's best and strongest annual Swiss tournaments, was held again in Moscow this month after a four-year, COVID-linked hiatus. The less-good news: The field for the 2024 tournament reflected the growing global divisions elsewhere, as a kind of Iron Curtain-lite descends upon the chess world. Published March 19, 2024
Putin claims landslide win in election West dismisses as unfair, undemocratic
In an election without suspense and without genuine competition, Vladimir Putin cruised Sunday to another six-year term as president of Russia, scoring an overwhelming victory after his most serious rivals were either sidelined, exiled or dead. Published March 17, 2024
Netanyahu denounces Senate Majority Leader Schumer’s call for elections as rift deepens with Dems
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several key Democrats traded broadsides Sunday in a rhetorical battle over the course of the war in Gaza. Published March 17, 2024
Key U.S. base in question as Niger’s junta repudiates military ties
One of the Pentagon's key surveillance bases in sub-Saharan Africa faces an uncertain future after Niger's military junta said this weekend that the American military presence is no longer welcome. Published March 17, 2024
Protesters adopt tactic of late Navalny to register protest to Putin reelection
Late opposition leader Alexei Navalny is playing a role Sunday as Russians complete three days of voting. Published March 17, 2024
Chess: ‘Pragg’ impresses in Prague ahead of Candidates’ battles
The men's and women's Candidates tournaments -- after a few dicey visa issues for the Russian and Indian entrants -- are set to begin less than a month from today in Toronto. At stake when the clocks start April 3 are the rights to challenge Chinese world champion Ding Liren and Chinese women's world champ Ju Wenjun later this year. Published March 12, 2024
Gligoric Trophy winners display the sporting side of chess
FIDE, the international chess federation, has created the Svetozar Gligoric Prize in honor of the late, great Yugoslavian grandmaster, awarded annually to the player who "who displays exemplary behavior promoting the spirit of fair play and sportsmanship in chess." It's a useful corrective to the stereotype that chess is a game played by unhinged personalities who would sell their mother for a promising kingside attack. Published March 5, 2024
Cuba accuses U.S. of inventing spy threat with ex-envoy’s guilty plea
Cuba's foreign minister is accusing the U.S. government of manufacturing an espionage threat in order to justify higher intelligence budgets and "new aggressive steps" against other countries -- just hours after a retired U.S. diplomat agreed to plead guilty of spying for Havana over a long career in public and private service. Published March 1, 2024
Hamas, Israel say Biden out of touch with premature cease-fire talk
President Biden has finally managed to unite Israel and Hamas on one point -- both sides say Mr. Biden's prediction of an imminent cease-fire and prisoner-swap deal is wildly optimistic and out of touch with the realities on the ground. Published February 27, 2024
In the world of team chess, the East is a beast
As the politicians will tell you this election year, support is nice, but it's turnout that's critical. By that score, this year's U.S. Amateur Team East championship, held again in its familiar Parsippany, New Jersey, home, surpassed even its own high standards. Published February 27, 2024
Remembering when the Rooks raged and a chess barrier came down
It might have been the biggest U.S. chess story in the mainstream press since Bobby Fischer's world championship win two decades earlier, and a good one to recall as we mark Black History Month. Published February 20, 2024
Outmanned and outgunned, Ukraine retreats from key town on front lines
Russian military officials say they have established near-total control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka after an intense and lengthy battle, pushing Ukrainian forces back several miles along what had long been a frozen front line. Published February 18, 2024
Alexei Navalny, the fiercest foe of Russia’s Putin, has died, Russian authorities say
Russia's official press has confirmed that Alexei Navalny, the country's best-known dissident and a caustic critic of President Vladimir Putin, had died while serving a sentence at a Siberian penal colony. Published February 16, 2024
Russia dismisses ‘unfounded’ Hill speculation over space threat
The Russia "space threat" that has consumed Congress and the Biden White House over the past two days is just a clever ploy to get more money for the Pentagon, the Kremlin's top spokesman told reporters Thursday. Published February 15, 2024
A chess bicentennial: Remembering when the Londoners got Scotched
We're big on anniversaries here as a good excuse for a column, but this is the first bicentennial we've had the opportunity to celebrate. Exactly 200 years ago, the Edinburgh Chess Club, formed two years earlier, cheekily challenged the far more established London Chess Club to a correspondence match, with moves transported between the cities by horse and carriage. Published February 13, 2024
An expansive Walesa reflects on Ukraine, traffic laws and the new world order
Lech Walesa turned 80 a few months ago and has a few things to get off his chest. Published February 11, 2024
Putin: Ukrainian coup put country on collision course with Russia years before invasion
A Ukrainian "coup" in 2015 that ousted the country's pro-Moscow president put Russian and Ukraine on the path to war, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a much-touted interview with conservative pundit Tucker Carlson released Thursday. Published February 8, 2024
In Israel, making time for chess in a time of troubles
Chess can be a finicky, demanding pastime, but the game has also proven surprisingly hardy in tough times. Published February 6, 2024
