David R. Sands

The king of chess gambits can still be a royal pain

It was the most popular opening for the first three centuries of modern chess. Paul Morphy relied on it heavily during his meteoric rise to world supremacy in the mid-19th century. Bobby Fischer claimed to have definitively refuted it after a famous loss with Black to nemesis Boris Spassky 12 years before their epic title match.

September 5, 2023

Rising junior chess star Jason Wang impresses at 10th Washington International

Russian GM Mikhail Antipov and rising Ohio junior IM Jason Wang shared top honors at the 10th Washington International held earlier this month in Rockville, Maryland. The event reliably boasts among the strongest and most competitive fields on the DMV summer chess calendar.

August 29, 2023

Titanic chess legal battle over cheating ends in an uneasy draw

The sensational cheating scandal that rocked elite chess has ended in a legal draw, one that might produce an uneasy truce between some of the game's best players and its most powerful commercial interests.

August 28, 2023

Decorated, outspoken Ukrainian pilot ‘Juice’ dies in training crash, officials say

One of Ukraine's most celebrated and decorated fighter pilots, known by his call-sign "Juice," was among those killed over the weekend in an apparent training accident, the Ukrainian Air Force revealed Sunday.

August 27, 2023

Virginia’s Fort Hill renamed to honor pioneering Union surgeon Mary Walker

Another Confederate general has been put out to pasture, this time replaced by a pioneering female surgeon who won a Medal of Honor for treating Union troops and was briefly a prisoner of war in the rebels' hands.

August 27, 2023

Russia finally confirms that Prigozhin, Wagner Group execs were on doomed plane

The Tass news service reported that the Russian Investigative Committee confirmed through forensic identification the death of 62-year-old Yevgeny Prigozhin, a one-time confidant of President Vladimir Putin who staged an abortive mutiny in June.

August 27, 2023

Three Marines killed, 20 wounded in Osprey crash during Australian exercises

Three U.S. Marines were killed and 20 others were injured when their MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor plane crashed off the coast of Australia while participating in multinational training exercises, the Marine Corps announced Sunday.

August 27, 2023

At the chessboard: Carlsen’s close call, Matanovic’s giant impact

Former world champ Magnus Carlsen was this close to going home early, but held on and is one of eight players still in the hunt as the FIDE World Cup reached the quarterfinal stage in Baku, Azerbaijan, this week.

August 15, 2023

Tang takes U.S. Open crown, books berth in U.S. championship chess tourney

Illinois GM Andrew Tang is the new U.S. Open champ, tying 2022 champ GM Alexey Sorokin at 8-1 in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Monday and defeating the Russian GM in an Armageddon playoff game to claim the title.

August 8, 2023

Bloc backs off on military action as Niger’s coup leaders remain defiant

A Sunday deadline by Niger's West African neighbors to intervene militarily if the recent army-led coup was not reversed appeared to pass without action even though the country's democratically elected president remains a prisoner of his generals in Niamey.

August 6, 2023

Philippines, U.S. slam China for blocking resupply of disputed South China Sea site

The State Department has joined the Philippines in condemning "dangerous actions" by China's coast guard in the latest flare-up of tensions over clashing territorial claims in the South China Sea.

August 6, 2023

When it’s hot and sticky, the chess should be short and sweet

Keep a column going for 30 years and you start to establish a few traditions along the way. Such as: When the temperature rises, the games should get shorter.

August 1, 2023

Ju retains women’s world chess title with some last-round derring-do

In a match in which the two players struggled to gain the tiniest of advantages, GM Ju Wenjun took a chance in the biggest-stakes game of them all.

July 25, 2023

Two very different games showcase the infinite variety of chess

Sometimes one small mistake can sink your game. And sometimes you can survive a host of oversights and blunders and still take the point.

July 18, 2023

Lei draws first blood in tightly contested women’s world chess title match

Women's world chess champion GM Ju Wenjun and GM Lei Tingje, her Chinese compatriot and challenger in the 12-game title match now underway in Shanghai, are well matched.

July 11, 2023

Turkey drops objection to Sweden’s NATO membership on eve of summit

Sweden is on track to become NATO's 32nd and newest member after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unexpectedly dropped his objections Monday on the eve of a summit of the Western military alliance's leaders in Vilnius, Lithuania.

July 10, 2023

U.S. says drone strike killed Islamic State leader in Syria

An American military airstrike has killed a senior Islamic State official in eastern Syria, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement released Sunday.

July 9, 2023

A tense France bans sale of Bastille Day fireworks

The French government on Sunday placed a ban on all non-official fireworks displays for the traditional Bastille Day celebrations on July 14, a reflection of the simmering tensions over the protests sparked by the killing of a teenager of North African descent by a police officer on June 27.

July 9, 2023

Double Dutch: Timman surveys the great Euwe’s chess career

It's hard to think of a better match in chess between author and subject than GM Jan Timman's new anthology, "Max Euwe's Best Games."

July 4, 2023

Kremlin hints at talks to free jailed U.S. reporter Gershkovich

The Kremlin acknowledged for the first time Tuesday that "contacts" with U.S. officials have begun over jailed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, imprisoned since March on what the Biden administration says are bogus espionage charges.

July 4, 2023