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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

Tsodikova-Jeute after 9. Bb5.

India’s Pranav fits the mold as new world junior chess champ

In a rare double unlikely to be replicated, the new world chess champion is an 18-year-old grandmaster from the Indian city of Chennai, and the new world junior champion is, yep, an 18-year-old grandmaster from the Indian city of Chennai.

March 11, 2025
Tal-Benko after 22...Bxb2.

Champ’s blue jean blues latest move in the long clash between chess and fashion

Modern chessplayers -- to put it mildly -- are not exactly known for their sartorial sophistication. Now comes news that the most famous pair of blue jeans in chess history is up for sale -- the pair worn by former world champion Magnus Carlsen that earned him a rebuke from organizers at the World Rapid Championships in New York late last year for violating the event's dress code.

February 25, 2025
Friedrich Merz, the candidate of the mainstream conservative Christian Democratic Union party, gestures while addressing supporters at the party headquarters in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025, after the German national election. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)

Merz on track to win German election, but far-right party a clear second

Germany's center-right parties are on course to return to power after four years in opposition, while a far-right party that has garnered praise from top Trump administration figures doubled its vote for an unprecedented second-place finish in Sunday's national elections, according to the first exit polls from Berlin.

February 23, 2025
Gukesh-Giri after 35. Kg1.

Marked man: New champ Gukesh back at the chessboard in strong Tata tournament

It's something of a rite of passage in chess -- the new champ is a marked man when he first returns to the board. Indian teenager Dommaraju Gukesh, who became the youngest world champion ever when he dethroned Chinese GM Deng Liren in their December title match, is testing himself in his first classical tournament since then -- the always-strong Tata Steel Masters Tournament in the storied Dutch seaside town of Wijk aan Zee.

January 21, 2025