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David R. Sands

David R. Sands

dsands@washingtontimes.com

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

Caruana-Giri after 25...Rfb8.

Candidates pick up the pieces in disrupted hunt for chess title match

It was the longest halftime break in the history of tournament chess and perhaps all of sports, but Round 8 of the FIDE Candidates Tournament to pick a challenger to world champion Magnus Carlsen finally was played Monday, some 389 days after Round 7 was completed.

April 20, 2021
The 2,500-plus U.S. troops remaining in Afghanistan face a period of maximum uncertainty and vulnerability in the next few months. The Pentagon may have to send more U.S. forces to the country, at least temporarily, to help speed the withdrawal. (Associated Press/File)

U.S. to monitor Afghanistan after troop withdrawal

President Biden has put a date certain on the U.S. military's withdrawal from its 20-year mission in Afghanistan, but that might be the only thing certain about Afghanistan's short- and long-term future.

April 18, 2021
In this Thursday, April 1, 2021 photo, Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to Russian Human Rights ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova during their meeting in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. Hit by a barrage of new sanctions from the Biden administration, the Kremlin is carefully weighing its response in a tense showdown with the United States. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP) **FILE**

Kremlin says U.S. has an ‘obsession’ with sanctions

The Kremlin's top spokesman Friday slammed what he called the U.S. government's "obsession" with imposing sanctions on countries it does not like, but said any retaliation for President Biden's recent moves to punish Russian hacking operations was still being considered by President Vladimir Putin.

April 16, 2021
Bartel-Artemiev after 21. Bg5.

Tragedy and redemption at the chessboard

Chess is the ultimate game of second chances, providing fresh opportunities for redemption every time you set up the pieces for a new game. But it's not often you go from bug to windshield as dramatically and quickly as Polish GM Mateusz Bartel did in the space of a couple of days.

April 13, 2021
Kuzubov-Keymer after 33. Qxd7.

German club comes up aces in European chess clash

Turns out there's no "I" in "mannschaft," either. That's the German word for "team," and it was a classic bit of teamwork that helped German chess club SF Deizisau to a surprise win in the recent European Club Cup championship, held as a rapid online event this year because of COVID-19 concerns.

April 6, 2021
In this photo released by Suez Canal Authority, the Ever Given, a Panama-flagged cargo ship is pulled by one of the Suez Canal tugboats, in the Suez Canal, Egypt, Monday, March 29, 2021. Engineers on Monday "partially refloated " the colossal container ship that continues to block traffic through the Suez Canal, authorities said, without providing further details about when the vessel would be set free. (Suez Canal Authority via AP)

Stuck Suez container ship freed and on the move

The massive container ship that ran aground in the narrow Suez Canal and sparked a massive backup in global shipping has been freed and is on the move, Egyptian officials said Monday morning.

March 29, 2021
Collins-L'Ami after 21...Bb7.

At the chessboard, it’s Erin go blah

There are so many things the Irish are good at: lyric poetry, dark beer, dancing with their arms epoxied to their sides. Chess, unfortunately, has never been one of them.

March 16, 2021
In this May 11, 2019, photo, pro-democracy lawmaker Wu Chi-wai, center, scuffles with security guards at Legislative Council in Hong Kong. China's ceremonial parliament on Thursday, March 11, 2021, approved a resolution to alter Hong Kong's election law that many see as effectively ending the city's already highly attenuated local democracy. (AP Photo/Vincent Yu) **FILE**

G-7 ministers say China pushing to kill democracy in Hong Kong

The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven industrial democracies Friday sharply criticized China's recent moves sharply restricting democratic rule in Hong Kong, saying a new law approved this week by the rubber-stamp National People's Congress betrays promises Beijing made to preserve the former British colony's political freedoms.

March 12, 2021
In this Aug. 16, 2020, file photo, a woman holds a sign with photographs of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, who have been detained in China since December 2018, during a rally in support of Hong Kong democracy, in Vancouver, British Columbia. China's Foreign Ministry says two Canadians held for two years in a case linked to a Huawei executive have been indicted and tried, but gave no details. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Canadians held by Chinese may soon get court date

Two prominent Canadians long detained in China on charges widely believed to be a retaliation for the prosecution of a leading Chinese tech executive by Ottawa may finally be getting a court date, according to a report in the state-controlled Global Times in China.

March 11, 2021