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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

Wyvill-Williams after 29…Bg7

DAVID R. SANDS: Nakamura rocks Gibraltar, reclaims top U.S. rating slot in chess

Top-ranked U.S. GM Hikaru Nakamura rules the Rock, having just won this year's edition of the strong Tradewise Gibraltar open tournament on the British Mediterranean outpost with an 8½-1½ score. Nakamura, now being challenged by rising GM Wesley So as the top-rated American player, didn't drop a game, defeating ex-world champion Veselin Topalov and Chinese star GM Yu Yangyi along the way.

February 10, 2015
During a joint news conference with President Obama Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated that Berlin still supported keeping Greece in the eurozone, but stood strongly behind the austerity program demanded by the Troika. (Associated Press)

Angela Merkel takes tough line on Greece ahead of key meeting

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave no sign Monday she's ready to ease the hard line she has taken with the new government in Greece over its financial crisis, saying the austerity package her government has demanded remains the "basis of any discussion we have" with Athens over a new bailout.

February 9, 2015
Defense Minister Jose Carlos Pinzon (Associated Press)

Minister: ‘No’ role for FARC after Colombia peace deal

There will be no role for Colombia’s leftist FARC guerrilla movement in the nation’s armed forces even if peace talks now underway produce an end to the country’s long civil war, Colombian Defense Minister Juan Carlos Pinzon said Friday.

January 30, 2015
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew talks with Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen at the conclusion of the open session of the Financial Stability Oversight Council at the Treasury Department in Washington, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015. The preliminary agenda for the open session includes an update on benchmark reform efforts and a discussion of the Council's process for considering nonbank financial companies for potential designation. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Fed holds firm, gives no hint of rate hike

Interest rates will remain at historic lows for the time being as the Federal Reserve finished a two-day meeting without announcing a shift in policy.

January 28, 2015
FILE - In this Thursday, Nov. 27, 2014 file photo, Giselle Basurto, of Mexico, shops at a Kmart store in New York on Thanksgiving Day. Retail sales rose 1.8 percent from Nov. 1 through Monday, Dec. 15, 2014 according to data provided from First Data Corp., which tracks purchases at 800,000 stores including online. The modest growth comes despite the heavy discounting customary throughout the season. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Weak holiday retail numbers clouds U.S. recovery hopes

U.S. retail sales unexpectedly tumbled nearly 1 percent in December, the Commerce Department announced Wednesday, sending U.S. stock markets lower and leading at least one analyst to says it's time to pump the brakes on talk of a strong U.S. economic rebound in 2015.

January 14, 2015
Sadness swept a source of satiric laughter Wednesday after masked gunmen killed some nationally known cartoonists and writers at Charlie Hebdo's office in Paris. (Associated Press)

No religion safe from satire of Charlie Hebdo cartoonists, writers

A ring of Roman Catholic cardinals voting on a new pope are drawn engaged in group gay sex. A mock movie ad for "Untouchables 2" shows a Jewish rabbi pushing a Muslim imam seated in a wheelchair. Singer Michael Jackson is depicted as a dancing skeleton just days after his fatal drug overdose. President Obama tries to "reassure" white American voters by asking a hooded KKK member to be his running mate.

January 7, 2015
The leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony answers journalists' questions following a meeting with U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland at Ri-Kwamba in southern Sudan. (AP Photo/Stuart Price, Pool, File)

Invisible Children, group behind Joseph Kony video, will slim operations

While notorious Lord's Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony remains — for now — at large, the organization that did the most to spotlight his crimes and spark an international manhunt for his capture is closing down its mission in Uganda as part of a major downsizing.

December 31, 2014
Garcia Martinez-Smyslov after 23…Rxf4.

DAVID R. SANDS: Cuba move a boon for chess

It probably didn't factor into his decision, but President Obama's recent diplomatic breakthrough with Cuba could have the side benefit of re-establishing normal relations with one of the world's great chess-playing cultures, a country with a rich history in the game that has long punched above its weight in global chess circles.

December 30, 2014
Harikrishna-Radjabov after 23. Nh4.

DAVID R. SANDS: Basking in the Basque: Format offers unique chess challenges

It's rapidly (no pun intended) becoming one of my favorite events of the year. In addition to bridge, Go, checkers and other tournaments, the annual SportAccord World Mind Games, held earlier this month in Beijing, includes a "Basque rapid" chess event in which top grandmasters play two games simultaneously, one with the White pieces and one with the Black.

December 23, 2014
Naroditsky-Holt after 18...a4.

DAVID R. SANDS: St. Louis claims first crown in U.S. Chess League play

In St. Louis this year, the Cardinals were good, but the Arch Bishops were better. The baseball team may have come up short in the playoffs, but the Gateway City's U.S. Chess League franchise went all the way, winning its first league championship in a blitz playoff against the Dallas Destiny Dec. 3.

December 22, 2014