David R. Sands

Ukraine on ‘irreversible’ path to NATO membership, chief Stoltenberg says

NATO leaders gave the clearest sign yet that Ukraine will one day be a part of the world's most powerful military alliance, with Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg telling reporters at NATO's 75th anniversary summit in Washington Wednesday that Kyiv's acceptance into the club is now "not a question of if, but when."

July 10, 2024

Quick thinking: Caruana aces rapid playoff to capture Superbet Romania chess title

If he could have played this well this fast before, he might well have won it all. At 31, GM Fabiano Caruana is in danger of going down as this generation's greatest chessplayer never to have captured the world title, a title many think he richly deserves.

July 9, 2024

Iran’s top leader shrugs off weak turnout numbers as presidential runoff vote begins

Iran's top leader attempted to shrug off plunging turnout numbers as Iranian voters headed to the polls Friday for a runoff presidential election between a moderate candidate and one of the country's best-known hard-liners.

July 5, 2024

Labor nabs historic win in British election as Conservatives are ousted after nearly 15 years

The newly center-left Labor party stormed to a massive victory in Britain's parliamentary polls, as exit polls confirmed widely held expectations that the ruling Conservatives would be out of power for the first time in nearly 15 years.

July 4, 2024

Bronstein at 100: Celebrating one of the game’s greatest players, writers and artists

The great Soviet grandmaster David Bronstein, born 100 years ago this year, was among the world's very best players from the 1940s to the 1970s, just missed in his bid to become world champion and wrote some of the greatest chess books of all time.

July 2, 2024

Conservative National Rally takes historic first in French parliamentary vote

France's anti-immigration, far-right National Rally party, once considered a fringe group, scored its biggest electoral triumph to date, taking a clear first place in snap parliamentary elections Sunday called by President Emmanuel Macron in a gamble to try to limit the party's influence.

June 30, 2024

Heavy turnout reported in pivotal French election that could bring conservative gains

French officials reported unusually heavy turnout Sunday in a pivotal snap election called by President Emmanuel Macron that could see a once-fringe right-wing party on the doorstep to power.

June 30, 2024

Hungary’s Orban, allies announce push to unite Europe’s surging right-wing parties

On a day when France's right-wing parties were hoping to score a historic electoral breakthrough, conservative European parties a few hundred miles away were announcing plans for an ambitious continent-wide union of forces.

June 30, 2024

French conservatives looking strong on eve of critical election test

French President Emmanuel Macron's gamble to hold a snap election to thwart the power of rising right-wing parties is looking ever more risky as final polls showed the far-right National Rally poised to score major gains in the first of two rounds of voting Sunday.

June 28, 2024

Lee impresses, but Tan takes the top prize in chess at hard-fought Cairns Cup

Chinese GM Tan Zhongyi made a powerful statement ahead of her world title match next year against reigning women's world champion GM Ju Wenjun, capturing the 4th Cairns Cup over an elite field of female rivals at the St. Louis Chess Club last week.

June 25, 2024

Netanyahu revives claim that White House is holding up needed arms for Gaza fight

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday defended his claims that the U.S. had slow-walked vital arms shipments in the midst of the war in Gaza.

June 23, 2024

Budding talents, old souls: Nogerbek, Divya capture world chess junior titles

It has to be admitted that the world junior and world junior girls' titles don't have the same cachet as they did in the days when young up-and-comers such as Boris Spassky, Garry Kasparov and Vishy Anand used the event as their coming-out party on the global stage. These days, the kids can go right to the grown-ups' table, soaring up the ratings ladder and getting top tournament invitations without having to play the younger circuit first.

June 18, 2024

Russian President Putin plans trip to North Korea to upgrade relations between two U.S. adversaries

Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit North Korea Tuesday in the latest sign of warming ties between the two U.S. adversaries.

June 17, 2024

Love match: Husband-wife tandem take Polish national titles in chess

June is the month of weddings and anniversaries, so it's appropriate that we start with a romance that has found success at home and at the chessboard.

June 11, 2024

Ding Liren’s woes mount with shaky showing at Norway Chess tournament

The Ding Dilemma deepens. Chinese world champion GM Ding Liren, suffering from a combination of ill health, inactivity and an inexplicable collapse of confidence at the board, came to the 12th Norway Chess tournament now underway in Stavanger with a modest goal: "not to finish in last place." That may have been too ambitious.

June 4, 2024

France nixes plans to include Russia in 80th anniversary D-Day celebrations next week

The French government has ordered an about-face and won't invite Russia to participate in ceremonies next week marking the 80th anniversary of the World War II D-Day landings in Normandy.

May 31, 2024

Ding Liren, a diffident chess champ, faces difficult test in Norway

In a club that has admitted only 17 officially recognized members over the past 150 years or so, one would think that being the world chess champion would come with a little bit of justified hubris. But reigning Chinese world champion Ding Liren, who must defend the title he won in 2023 by the end of the year against young Indian phenom GM Dommaraju Gukesh, is proving an exception to the rule.

May 28, 2024

Some teachable moments from some notable chess coaches

Morphy's first chess teacher was his uncle -- a weak player -- and Capablanca picked up the game from his father -- who was likely even worse, but modern players from Bobby Fischer on were far more likely to rely on a competent and inspiring coach to set them on the path to greatness.

May 21, 2024

Beyond the Candidates: Checking out the buzz in Bishkek

Today's first game, played at the recent Kyrgyzstan National Championship, helped winner IM Nikita Khoroshev take the national crown in the 12-player round-robin event in Bishkek earlier this month.

May 14, 2024

Israel moves toward a full assault on Rafah despite increased pressure from the U.S., others

Frantic U.S. and international efforts to prevent a full-scale Israeli assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah appeared to be making little headway as Israel Defense Forces pressed forward and thousands more Palestinian civilians attempted to flee the besieged city.

May 12, 2024