David R. Sands

DAVID R. SANDS: After forfeit, So bounces back with win streak in chess

We don't know whether Wesley So knows his Kipling, but he is handling adversity in a way the old bard would admire.

April 21, 2015

DAVID R. SANDS: So busted — favorite forfeited for note-taking during chess game

Favorites Hikaru Nakamura and Irina Krush lived up to their billing with impressive victories in the 2015 U.S. Open and U.S. Women's Championships. A new generation of American stars made their mark, and a number of impressive games were played.

April 14, 2015

North Korea aims to be more business friendly — with Putin

One of the world's most hermetically sealed economies is trying to change its image.

April 14, 2015

Russians say Islamic State infiltrating domestic groups

The jihadi terror group Islamic State has begun "embedding" with Russian domestic terror organizations, including a leading Chechen resistance group, a top Russian intelligence official said Friday.

April 10, 2015

DAVID R. SANDS: Hikaru Nakamura leads in St. Louis; Mariya Muzychuk wins chess crown in Sochi

The top seeds are in the two top places as GM Hikaru Nakamura at 4-1 leads GM Wesley So by a half-point through Sunday's Round 5 of the U.S. Open Championships, now underway at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis.

April 8, 2015

Jim Yong Kim ignores Obama; World Bank boss welcomes new Chinese bank

Count the American head of the World Bank as one more major player ignoring Obama administration concerns to say he welcomes the creation of a major new China-sponsored development bank to fund infrastructure projects across Asia.

April 7, 2015

Iranian deal silent on fate of U.S. prisoners held by Tehran

While President Obama and his aides hailed the nuclear deal struck with Iran as a diplomatic coup, the accord was silent on a major bilateral irritant between Washington and Tehran — the fate of three American prisoners being held in Iranian jails.

April 2, 2015

Efforts to head off China development bank called a failure

U.S. efforts to head off a new China-sponsored development bank for the booming Asia region ended in abject failure this week as organizers announced nearly four dozen countries — including some of America's closest Asian and European allies — have applied to membership, amid growing criticism of how the Obama administration handled the entire episode.

April 1, 2015

DAVID R. SANDS: UMBC, Virginia Assassins come up short in team chess events

In two big national team events last week, the locals got passed by the express.

April 1, 2015

U.S. allies rush to join China’s new bank as deadline looms

The rush to join the China's new development bank for Asia has become a stampede, with even longtime U.S. allies such as Georgia, South Korea, Australia and even Taiwan now saying they are ready to join despite the clear reservations of the Obama administration.

March 30, 2015

Ashraf Ghani, Afghan president: Islam’s leaders must speak out on terror threat

Islam's leaders must be more forceful in condemning jihadi violence, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani told lawmakers in an address to a joint session of Congress Wednesday.

March 25, 2015

Australia latest U.S. ally to sign on to new Chinese development bank

Australia Tuesday moved a big step closer to becoming the latest U.S. ally to buck Obama administration concerns and sign on as a founding member of the China-sponsored Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

March 24, 2015

DAVID R. SANDS: Busted bracket: U.S. women bounced from chess tournament

If you picked the American women, your bracket is already busted. March madness — the non-trademarked kind — is underway in Sochi, Russia, where FIDE is holding a knockout tournament for 64 of the world's best female players, including three former women's world chess champs.

March 24, 2015

Obama humiliated as allies join China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank

The battle of wills between Beijing and Washington over a China-sponsored development bank for Asia is turning into a rout, and the Obama administration has found itself isolated and embarrassed as its top allies lined up this week to join the proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

March 18, 2015

DAVID R. SANDS: Bring me your tired, your poor and your top-rated chess grandmasters

The New York Times last week gave front-page treatment to the under-the-radar machinations now being used to "persuade" top grandmasters to change the flag for which they play.

March 17, 2015

DAVID R. SANDS: After 26 years at the top, Judit Polgar surpassed by Chinese chess challenger

She hasn't exactly been dethroned, but Hungarian GM Judit Polgar's reign as the ratings queen of women's chess has finally come to an end after an astonishing 26 years of supremacy.

March 10, 2015

Strong U.S. jobs report raises pressure on Fed to boost rates

The U.S. jobs machine showed no signs of the winter blues as employers added 295,000 jobs in February, exceeding analyst expectations and marking the 12th straight month with gains of 200,000 or more, the Labor Department announced Friday.

March 6, 2015

DAVID R. SANDS: The joys of kibitzing by computer in chess

They've made some things a bit more complicated — problem-solving contests and correspondence chess, to name two — but superstrong computer programs have not proved the death of competitive chess that some feared.

March 4, 2015

Pakistan envoy: Iran nuke deal would lower tensions, boost projects

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was warning in his Tuesday address to Congress that Iran's neighbors feared the potential nuclear agreement now being negotiated by the Obama administration and its international partners, at least one of those neighbors said it is rooting strongly that a deal can be struck.

March 3, 2015

DAVID R. SANDS: Virginia Assassins surprise with win at Amateur East chess tourney

It's the biggest, rowdiest team competition in American chess, and an unheralded Virginia team has taken home the blue ribbon.

February 24, 2015