David R. Sands

U.S. chess future looks bright as Jeffery Xiong, Ray Robson shine

The kids are gonna be all right. It may not be fully appreciated, but we are living in a golden age for the U.S. game, with a breadth and depth of chess talent that can stand with any era of the past 150 years.

September 24, 2019

Three Americans still in the hunt at FIDE World Cup chess knockout fight

The field has been winnowed, and three of the six Americans have already been sent home at the 128-player FIDE World Cup knockout tournament, now entering the third round of matches in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

September 17, 2019

Vladimir Belous shines, Joshua Altman soars at 51st Atlantic Open chess clash

Russian GM Vladimir Belous captured last month's 51st annual Atlantic Open, the D.C. region's traditional late-summer chess blowout, but D.C. expert Joshua Altman stole the show.

September 10, 2019

Pal Benko lived a full life at the chessboard — and away from it

The blessing/curse -- "May you live in interesting times" -- just may have been conceived with Pal Benko in mind. The storied Hungarian American grandmaster and problemist, who died last week at the age of 91, lived such a full life at and away from the chessboard that one column cannot begin to do justice to his ordeals and achievements.

September 3, 2019

Fighting chess at Korchnoi Memorial proves worthy of its namesake

At the recent Viktor Korchnoi Memorial in St. Petersburg, Russian GM Vadim Zvjaginsev tied for first with compatriot Maksim Chigaev and American GM Gata Kamsky, helped in part by a fine mating attack against Russian FM Yury Prokopchuk.

August 27, 2019

Military resists push to open CBD products to U.S. service members

Cannabidiol, the commercially red-hot hemp derivative known as CBD, remains a no-no for America's soldiers, sailors, Marines and Coast Guard.

August 22, 2019

Baby Trump blimp visits Copenhagen despite cancellation by president

President Trump has canceled his visit to Denmark early next month in a spat over his spurned offer to buy Greenland, but Baby Trump will still be making an appearance in Copenhagen.

August 21, 2019

Russia wary of Trump talk of rejoining G-7

President Trump is ready to welcome them back, but Russian officials reacted warily to talk of rejoining the Group of Seven club of leading industrial powers.

August 21, 2019

China’s military forms new ‘counterterror’ unit in restive Uighur region

China's military has set up a new counterterrorism special ops unit based in the restive Xinjiang province, home to the Uighur minority that has long chafed under the leadership of the Communist Party in Beijing.

August 20, 2019

A chess columnist’s tribute to chess columnists

The estimable Chess Journalists of America has just handed out its 2019 awards and our humble little effort here has once again been named the "best regular newspaper chess column" in the country.

August 20, 2019

Wilbur Ross: Hong Kong is ‘an internal matter’ for China

The Trump administration is watching the unrest in Hong Kong closely, but the pro-democracy protests that have rocked the city are an "internal matter" for China, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Wednesday.

August 14, 2019

Illya Nyzhnyk shuts the door at U.S. Open with last-round chess win

The U.S. Open is looking pretty spry these days, considering it just turned 120. The nation's premier open chess tournament passed the latest milestone this month, providing a good bit of drama along the way. Ukrainian-born GM Illya Nyzhnyk claimed solo first and a spot in next year's U.S. Closed Championship with a dominating 8-1 result in Orlando, Florida.

August 13, 2019

A chess finale worthy of the moment at Washington International

There are fun games and there are decisive games, and it's not often the twain can meet.

August 6, 2019

Kelly Craft confirmed to be U.N. ambassador by Senate

Despite a last-minute push by minority Democrats, the Senate on Wednesday approved President Trump's choice of Kelly Craft, a former ambassador to Canada and major donor to Republican causes, as the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

July 31, 2019

In chess, the king is not always a royal pain

It is not, in fact, always good to be the king. In chess, the king is both indispensable and a giant pain in the neck, an entitled, one-square-at-a-time attention hog who needs constant protection and reinforcement. Still, there are some rare examples where the king gets to shine, when His Majesty takes the initiative and doesn't just sit there leading from behind.

July 31, 2019

Another Beltway back-up as New Yorker magazine deliveries delayed

A huge back-up on Washington's notorious Beltway has caused another traveler to miss a scheduled appointment.

July 26, 2019

Awonder Liang, Carissa Yip, Alex Shabalov shine in triple chess championships

Two weeks' worth of hard work at the Chess Club of St. Louis produced three new U.S. champions, with 16-year-old Wisconsin GM Awonder Liang recording a rare three-peat as U.S. junior champion, edging out New Jersey GM Nicolas Checa in a playoff after the two tied in the 10-player invitational at 7-2.

July 23, 2019

Seniors sizzle among a tsunami of summer chess events

The so-called dog days for summer can leave a chess columnist dog tired. That's because the hot weather and vacation schedules annually combine for a tsunami of summer tournaments, from superelite events in Europe to national championships in Norway and Uzbekistan to a slew of strong Swiss tournaments across the U.S.

July 16, 2019

China-led Asian investment bank holds annual meeting in heart of Europe

A Beijing-based infrastructure funding bank strongly backed by the Chinese government is holding its annual meeting Friday in Luxembourg, the first time the event has been held in Europe and a sign the bank may be looking beyond Asia for investment opportunities.

July 12, 2019

U.S. women’s chess champ Jennifer Yu seeks fresh challenge in U.S. juniors

She first appeared in this space five years ago when we wrote of Ashburn, Virginia, middle-schooler Jennifer Yu's impressive second-place finish in the Under-2200 section of the 2014 D.C. International.

July 9, 2019