David R. Sands

A ‘Greek gift’ on the chessboard that just keeps on giving

With a possibly life-changing match just over a month away, Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi is giving little away at the powerful WR Chess Masters tournament now underway in Duesseldorf, Germany.

February 21, 2023

Biden makes surprise visit to Ukraine in major show of support

President Biden made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv on Monday in a dramatic show of support for the war-torn country, just days ahead of the anniversary of Russia's invasion.

February 20, 2023

Biden in Kyiv to show solidarity as Ukraine war nears 1 year; U.S. giving half-billion dollars

President Biden made a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv Monday, walking with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy through the heart of the city and promising fresh military aid in a dramatic illustration of U.S. support just days before the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion.

February 20, 2023

Blinken, Wang clash over balloon, Russia support in tense meeting

A much-anticipated meeting between the top diplomats from the U.S. and China over the weekend appeared to do little to clear the tensions over the shooting down of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon and may have added new strains to the bilateral relationship.

February 19, 2023

Winants, standard-bearer for Belgian chess, dies at 60

To be a titled grandmaster in a major chess power these days is to be a pretty big fish in a pretty crowded aquarium.

February 14, 2023

Sensational Serb: Celebrating Gligoric at 100

Yugoslavian/Serbian great Svetozar Gligoric, born 100 years ago on Feb. 2, is the greatest player his chess-mad country ever produced and one of the premier players of the postwar chess generation. But Gligoric had the misfortune to come of age when the Soviet chess juggernaut was at its most formidable.

February 7, 2023

Dutch treat: Hometown hero Giri scores breakthrough win at Tata Steel Masters

It was a double Dutch treat that gave GM Anish Giri a breakthrough win in his home country's signature tournament at the 85th Tata Steel Masters tournament that concluded Sunday in the coastal Netherlands' village of Wijk aan Zee.

January 31, 2023

Blinken trip still on despite latest Israeli-Palestinian violence, State Department says

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will proceed with a planned trip to Israel and the Palestinian-controlled West Bank despite an outburst of violence that has racked the region the last two days, the State Department said Friday.

January 28, 2023

Clash kills nine Palestinians, inflames tensions ahead of Blinken trip to Israel

A deadly Israeli military raid Thursday in the occupied West Bank killed nine suspected Palestinian militants and sent regional tensions soaring ahead of a planned visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to the region in the coming days.

January 26, 2023

Playing chess is a great way to see the world

Chess is said to boost math skills and logical thinking, but our favorite game may work best as a tool for teaching geography.

January 24, 2023

Netanyahu bows to court and fires key Cabinet ally Aryeh Deri

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed a key ally from his new Cabinet, bowing to a ruling from the Israeli Supreme Court after days of temporizing.

January 22, 2023

Pressure grows on Germany to authorize tank shipment to break Ukraine war stalemate

Germany found itself under intense and growing pressure Sunday as the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz weighed whether to authorize the shipment of its coveted Leopard-2 tanks to Ukraine.

January 22, 2023

Germany punts on Leopard 2 tanks for Ukraine

Germany said Friday it needed more time to decide whether to let its coveted Leopard 2 battle tanks be sent to Ukraine, putting off pleas from the government in Kyiv and disappointing U.S. and NATO allies eager to bolster Ukraine's forces against a possible new Russian advance.

January 20, 2023

A Romantic chess opening that gets few dates these days

The most romantic of chess openings doesn't get many dates these days.

January 17, 2023

Viennese hits and misses from storied chess tournament 150 years ago

It's a new year, and for a chess columnist that means a whole bunch of anniversaries and milestones to celebrate in 2023.

January 10, 2023

One head, three crowns: Champ Carlsen adds blitz, rapid chess titles

It's the equivalent of the Grand Slam or Triple Crown of chess, and Magnus Carlsen has just done it for a hard-to-believe third time.

January 3, 2023

Key Republican steps up warning on China’s TikTok, calls it ‘digital fentanyl’

The Wisconsin lawmaker expected to be the new House Republican point man on China voiced fresh concerns Sunday about TikTok, the Chinese-owned social media site that has become wildly popular with America's youth but which many see as a major security danger.

January 1, 2023

Bolsonaro bolts from Brazil ahead of rival’s inauguration

Outgoing conservative populist President Jair Bolsonaro has abruptly flown out of Brazil, just two days before his rival and leftist successor, President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, was set to take office.

December 30, 2022

For the holidays, chess stars rise in the East

It is that time of year again when we start looking for that star out of the East. Right now, we have a whole constellation full of them.

December 27, 2022

Putin recruits military bloggers to sell mobilization drive toward criticized war effort

While supporting Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, many of the bloggers have emerged as among the harshest domestic critics of the Kremlin's prosecution of the war.

December 21, 2022