The Olympiad is the moveable feast on the chess menu, a massive biennial team competition that attracts entrants from virtually every country across the globe. There's so much chess going on -- and so much focus on what the Big Boys and Big Girls are doing on the top-seeded boards, that it's easy to overlook some impressive chess played lower down the ratings chart. Published October 16, 2018
The Donald Trump that Florida evangelical minister Paula White sees is a good listener, a man who takes his faith seriously while not always being fluent in "Christianese" and, unlike so many of his predecessors, a politician who has kept his promises to faith voters and evangelical Christian groups after he won the presidency with the help of their votes. Published October 11, 2018
A team of experts from the International Monetary Fund will travel to Islamabad in the coming weeks to discuss a possible financial assistance package for Pakistan -- despite warnings from U.S. lawmakers and the Trump administration that the money would be used to pay off massive debts Pakistan has run up with China. Published October 11, 2018
For the first time in more than three decades, one nation went home with two team gold medals at the biennial Chess Olympiad this year. Published October 9, 2018
China scored a rare double as its Open and women's teams both claimed the gold medal at the 43rd Chess Olympiad that concluded Friday in Batumi, Georgia. Published October 5, 2018
The Trump administration is pulling out of an "obsolete" 63-year-old friendship treaty with Iran, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Wednesday, just hours after an international tribunal ruled the U.S. government must roll back some of the economic sanctions it has imposed on Tehran over its nuclear and missile programs. Published October 3, 2018
In an event where a single early setback can put a team irretrievably behind the 8-ball, the U.S. open and women's teams have been taking care of business and are still very much in the running for some medal hardware at the 43rd Chess Olympiad now just past the halfway point in Batumi, Georgia. Published October 2, 2018
President Trump's ability to wangle a new deal from NAFTA partners Mexico and Canada will give the White House leverage to take a harder line in the escalating trade war with China, administration backers said Monday. Published October 1, 2018
Just an hour after President Trump hailed the proposed revision of the North American Free Trade Agreement as a win for U.S. workers and a vindication of his hard-edged approach to trade, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau predicted the new deal would be "profoundly beneficial" for Canadian families and the middle class. Published October 1, 2018
An Anglo-American school that has operated in St. Petersburg since the depths of the Cold War is closing its doors, the latest apparent victim of the deep chill in more recent relations between Russia and the West. Published September 28, 2018
The defending champion U.S. chess squad got off to a nice start Monday as play began for the 43rd Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia, efficiently dispatching an outranked Panama as they pursue a second consecutive gold medal. Published September 26, 2018
It may have a few problems on some other fronts, but Iran's chess future looks bright these days. Already the strongest chess-playing nation in the Middle East, Iran now has a bona fide world champion -- junior division. Published September 18, 2018
A group of European and Middle Eastern allies of the United States announced plans to meet on the sidelines of next week's U.N. General Assembly gathering in New York to discuss how to make up the shortfalls after the Trump administration cut off all funding for aid to Palestinian refugees. Published September 18, 2018
Would-be Russian duelists had better be en garde -- the government is watching. Published September 14, 2018
With more than 100 area elementary and secondary students on hand and a virtual visit from the former world champion Garry Kasparov, the U.S. Chess Center got off to a rousing start at its new home in downtown Silver Spring Saturday, a location organizers hope will boost the Center's visibility and accessibility for chess players around the Washington region. Published September 11, 2018
It's supposed to be a game, but on this Labor Day week, let's celebrate the hardest-working man in chess -- who just happens to be the world champion. Published September 4, 2018
The plague of draws that infected the 6th Sinquefield Cup that wraps up this week illustrates that paradox that pairing off the world's greatest players doesn't always produce the world's most scintillating chess. The St. Louis field, with an average rating of 2788, boasted world champion Magnus Carlsen, top-rated American challenger GM Fabiano Caruana and eight more of the planet's very best players. Published August 28, 2018
President Trump announced Friday that he instructed Secretary of State Mike Pomepo not to go to North Korea, citing a lack of progress towards denuclearization. Published August 24, 2018
The most famous name in Russian armaments is taking direct aim at Elon Musk and his Tesla electric car. Published August 24, 2018
Sacrificing the queen is the showiest tactic there is -- except, of course, for when you can sacrifice two queens in the same game. Published August 21, 2018
