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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

Bonin-Djuric after 17...Bg4.

A chess battle of the sexes and a history of the World (Open)

It's Gibraltar, so they clearly know how to rock on. The hugely popular annual chess festival on the little spot of Britain at the mouth of the Mediterranean was called off last year because of COVID-19, and tournament sponsors had to scramble again this year because the Caleta Hotel, the longtime venue for the event, has just closed for a three-year renovation.

February 8, 2022
A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea, Jan. 18, 2022. Russia has concentrated an estimated 100,000 troops with tanks and other heavy weapons near Ukraine in what the West fears could be a prelude to an invasion. (AP Photo, File)

Biden OKs more troops to Eastern Europe as replies to Russia leak

President Biden on Wednesday signed off on sending additional troops to reinforce NATO allies in eastern Europe amid a mounting crisis with Russia over Ukraine and security policy across the continent. The U.S. troops could begin deploying within days, U.S. officials said.

February 2, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking to the media during a joint news conference with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban following their talks in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. Putin says the U.S. and its allies have ignored Russia's top security demands. In his first comments on the standoff with the West over Ukraine in more than a month, Putin said Tuesday that the Kremlin is still studying the U.S. and NATO's response to the Russian security demands received last week. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Peeved Putin complains West ‘ignored’ demands as Blinken, Lavrov confer

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. and its allies of dismissing the Kremlin's "fundamental concerns" about the military standoff across Eastern Europe, while Ukraine announced plans Tuesday to dramatically expand the size of its armed forces, adding fresh uncertainty to the slow-burning crisis.

February 1, 2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shares a word with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the occasion of their meeting at the Bankova, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

Blinken, Russia’s Lavrov talk on Ukraine crisis after bitter U.N. exchanges

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a direct phone conversation Tuesday, a day after U.S. and Russian diplomats traded broadsides at a charged U.N. Security Council meeting over who was responsible for the gathering crisis in Ukraine.

February 1, 2022
People watch a TV showing a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022. North Korea on Sunday fired what appeared to be the most powerful missile it has tested since U.S. President Joe Biden took office, as it revives its old playbook in brinkmanship to wrest concessions from Washington and neighbors amid a prolonged stalemate in diplomacy. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Latest North Korean missile shot raises fears of a breakout

Kim Jong-un will not be ignored. Even with Europe braced for a shooting war in Ukraine, the Winter Olympics set to begin in China and a pandemic still uncontained, the North Korean leader is using a battery of missile firings to remind the world of the threat he poses and give President Biden another growing foreign policy headache to address.

January 30, 2022
In this photo taken from video provided by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, A Russian armored vehicle drives off a railway platform after arrival in Belarus, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022. In a move that further beefs up forces near Ukraine, Russia has sent an unspecified number of troops from the country's far east to its ally Belarus, which shares a border with Ukraine, for major war games next month. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP)

Biden warns of ‘dear price’ for Russia as Blinken huddles with Ukraine

President Biden told a White House press conference Wednesday that Russia would pay a "dear price" if it took military action against neighboring Ukraine, hours after Secretary of State Antony Blinken huddled with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv to kick off a hastily organized European mission to head off a new war in Europe.

January 19, 2022
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, center, and Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko, fourth right, arrive for the NATO-Russia Council at NATO headquarters, in Brussels, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. (Olivier Hoslet, Pool Photo via AP)

Fears of Ukraine invasion rise as Russia talks fail to reach breakthrough

Fears rose Wednesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is intent on invading Ukraine, as talks between American, NATO and Russian officials failed to produce a commitment from Moscow to draw down its major troop buildup along the border with the developing, U.S.-aligned democracy.

January 12, 2022
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg leaves after speaking during a media conference after a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council at NATO headquarters, in Brussels, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)

NATO leader eyes more talks with Russia after lengthy session

Russian and NATO officials held a "serious and direct exchange" over soaring tensions in Ukraine and eastern Europe, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday, asserting that the Western military alliance still has deep concerns about the Kremlin's policy but hopes for more talks to ease the crisis.

January 12, 2022
Penrose-Barden after 24...Re1.

Chess was a sideline, but Penrose was no amateur

Jonathan Penrose was the epitome of that generation of fine British chess players who had all the talent in the world but lacked the time, the wherewithal and perhaps the monomaniacal ambition to scale the highest summits of the game.

January 11, 2022