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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

Lane-Nedeljkovic after 26...Ne5.

Lisa Lane, trailblazer for U.S. women’s chess and Sports Illustrated cover girl, dies at 90

Her career was as impressive as it was improbable. Lisa Lane, who passed away Feb. 28 at the age of 90, was a fierce competitor at the chessboard, a two-time U.S. women's champion in 1959 and 1966 and a media sensation in an age when her sex, her drive to succeed and even her attractiveness sometimes seemed to work against her in a way that never burdened her male rivals.

March 26, 2024
Caruana-So after 46...Rxb8.

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.

March 19, 2024
Abdusattorov-Praggnanandhaa after 35...Qb3.

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.

March 12, 2024
Gelfand-Pechac after 15...dxc4.

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.

March 5, 2024
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parilla addresses the media during a news conference in Vienna, Austria, Monday, June 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak) **FILE**

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.

March 1, 2024
Petty-Hulse after 14...Nxd2.

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.

February 27, 2024
Edinburgh-London after 58...Bf8+.

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.

February 13, 2024