David R. Sands

Like Biden, world leaders face blowback from Afghan debacle

President Biden isn't the only world leader facing blowback from the stunning collapse of the government in Afghanistan and the desperate struggle to evacuate stranded citizens as the Taliban consolidate control in Kabul.

August 18, 2021

Quick thinking: Nakamura dominates rapid and blitz chess in St. Louis

So much of greatness in sports and the arts comes down to how you measure it. Take the case of American GM Hikaru Nakamura.

August 17, 2021

U.S., allies join Canada in blasting Chinese verdict on prisoner

The U.S. and some two dozen nations Wednesday joined in a condemnation of China for its sentencing of Canadian businessman Michael Spavor, who was convicted of espionage in a closed court proceeding Tuesday and given an 11-year prison term.

August 11, 2021

Almost perfect: Alex Lenderman just misses a shutout in U.S. Open chess win

He lost his perfect chess game in -- almost literally -- the bottom of the ninth, but GM Alex Lenderman still emerged with the victory in the just-concluded 121st U.S. Open, held this year in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

August 10, 2021

Sam Shankland shines in defeat at World Cup chess knockout tourney

The Sam Shankland secret is starting to get out. Long known as one of the best American players, the low-profile California GM is starting to make a name for himself across the pond as well. Shankland captured the Prague Masters tournament in June over a world-class field and just made a strong run in the 128-player FIDE World Cup knockout tournament in Krasnaya Polyana, Russia.

August 3, 2021

Russian envoy puts blame on Iran for nuke deal stalemate

A top Russian diplomat said Iran bears much of the blame for the failure to cut a deal with the Biden administration and restore the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal that President Trump repudiated in 2018.

August 2, 2021

U.S. says Iran to blame for deadly drone attack on oil ship

The Biden administration is joining its allies in putting the blame on Iran for an apparent drone attack last week that killed two crewmembers aboard a petroleum tanker in the tense Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman.

August 1, 2021

Russia cites Olympics medal haul amid anti-doping scandals

Russian sports officials are employing the familiar American sports taunt "Scoreboard" against those who would question their athletes about doping.

August 1, 2021

North Korea warns U.S.-South Korea military drills will damage ties

North Korea warned Sunday that "hostile" U.S.-South Korean military drills planned for later this month could seriously damage the recent push to improve relations between the two Koreas.

August 1, 2021

Pentagon chief Austin hails arrival of first evacuation flight of Afghans who helped U.S. forces

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday welcomed the arrival in the U.S. of the first contingent of Afghan nationals who aided the 20-year U.S. combat mission in their country and now face potential revenge attacks from insurgent Taliban forces.

July 30, 2021

Dismantled oil giant Yukos wins $5 billion judgment against Russia

An international tribunal has ruled that the Russian government owes onetime energy giant Yukos Oil $5 billion in compensation for illegally expropriating its assets and denying it justice in Russian courts.

July 29, 2021

Austin calls out China, promises aid to allies on Asian tour

The U.S. military will strongly defend Taiwan and its other Asian allies and rejects China's expansive sovereignty claims in the South China Sea, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told a high-powered Asian security conference Tuesday.

July 27, 2021

Crowning achievement: Niemann, Wang and Kaidanov claim chess titles

July proved a disorienting month for patriotic American chess players. We opened the month celebrating our declaration of independence from a foreign king and closed the month with a triple coronation right here at home.

July 27, 2021

UN strips famed Liverpool docks of historic designation

The United Nations' lead cultural agency has unceremoniously stripped the British city of Liverpool of its coveted status as a world heritage site, ruling that new commercial development has robbed the port's famed Victorian-era docks of their unique cultural and architectural value.

July 21, 2021

For a weekly chess columnist, an embarrassment of riches

"How do you find enough material to fill a weekly column?" The question comes up surprisingly frequently from my poor, deprived non-chess-loving friends.

July 20, 2021

U.S. forges new alliances to prep for post-Afghan War reality in Central Asia

The Biden administration has announced plans for a new formal relationship with Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan, the latest signs of geopolitical tug of war in the region in the wake of the U.S. and allied troop pullout from Afghanistan.

July 16, 2021

Vive la France! Alireza Firouzja latest chess star to be given a Gallic welcome

France's Bastille Day, which we mark this week, celebrates the final days of a notorious royalist prison in 1789 that inmates were trying to escape from. Which for chessplayers is more than a bit ironic, as France ever since has represented a place to escape to.

July 13, 2021

Rhetoric from ‘Free Iran’ summit strikes nerve, sparks regime’s ire

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a parade of former officials and current lawmakers from countries around the world told a mass virtual gathering of Iranian exiles over the weekend that the regime in Tehran was weak, illegitimate, incompetent and not long for this world.

July 11, 2021

Kinzinger: U.S. military may have to return to Afghanistan

Departing American troops may soon have to return to Afghanistan as the security situation deteriorates and the Taliban step up their offensive against the U.S.-backed Kabul government, a key lawmaker said Sunday.

July 11, 2021