David R. Sands

Masterpieces in a minor key — the joys of positional chess

As the great Franco-Polish master Savielly Tartakower reportedly observed, "Tactics is what you do when there is something to do; strategy is what you do when there is nothing to do."

June 6, 2017

Ding Liren, Wei Yi point to bright future for China in chess

The Soviets once dominated the game, the Americans now have the biggest collection of superstars, but the future of chess may belong to China.

May 30, 2017

Martial art: How real warriors fare at the chessboard

It's the world's greatest war game, but that doesn't mean that generals and admirals are natural stars at chess.

May 25, 2017

Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s new president, faces U.S. diplomatic test

As a candidate for president, Moon Jae-in sought to end a decade of conservative dominance of South Korean politics by telling voters he would be a leader who could "say no to America."

May 9, 2017

Putin proves a lonely host for Russia’s latest ‘Victory Day’ celebration

Russia's international isolation was on vivid display Tuesday as just one foreign leader -- the president of Moldova -- joined Russian President Vladimir Putin to witness the Victory Day parade marking the 72nd anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

May 9, 2017

Baden-Baden rolls through powerful German chess league

Smells like team spirit in the chess world these days. Spring is the traditional season for team chess competition finals, with national leagues competing or just concluding play in Russia, China, England, Switzerland and Italy, among other locales.

May 9, 2017

Moon Jae-in claims win in South Korean presidential vote as rivals concede

Liberal human rights lawyer Moon Jae-in looked set to end a decade of conservative dominance in South Korea as his two main rivals conceded with the votes still being counted in Tuesday's snap presidential election.

May 9, 2017

Power play: A history of the world in the chessboard’s 64 squares

There's a doctoral dissertation to be written on the correlation between chess mastery and political supremacy.

May 2, 2017

For America’s busy chess stars, no rest for the weary

Time was when the world's greatest players could go for a good long spell without doing battle against their peers. Elite events, where the entire field consisted of the best of the best, tended to be held months, even years apart, taking on legendary status in shorthand like Hastings 1895, New York 1924 or Moscow 1935.

April 25, 2017

Arthur Bisguier, a tireless ambassador for chess, dies at 87

American chess lost one of the good guys with the passing of GM Arthur Bisguier at the age of 87 on April 5.

April 18, 2017

Wesley So, Sabina-Francesca Foisor emerge as champions in unpredictable U.S. chess title fight

With his top rivals falling by the wayside, GM Wesley So held off an unexpected challenge to claim his first U.S. national championship Monday at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis.

April 11, 2017

GM Wesley So captures first U.S. chess championship in tense playoff

With his top rivals falling by the wayside, GM Wesley So held off an unexpected challenger to claim his first U.S. national championship Monday at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis.

April 10, 2017

Iran sees ‘cover-up,’ ‘bogus allegations’ in U.S. missile strike against ally Syria

Despite Iran's own history as the victim of a mass chemical gas attack by Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, top officials in Tehran on Friday condemned President Trump's punitive missile strike against Syria over its suspected use of chemical weapons against the regime's enemies, accusing Washington of hypocrisy and deception.

April 7, 2017

Iran condemns chemical attack but won’t blame Syrian ally Assad

In its first official comment on the suspected chemical attack on rebel-held territory in Syria Tuesday that killed more than 100 people, Iran strongly condemned the strike but refused to blame its ally, Syrian President Bashar Assad.

April 5, 2017

Juan Carlos Pinzon, Colombian ambassador, firm on peace with FARC, war on coca

NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: A surge in coca production has cast a shadow over the peace process, but Colombia remains committed to implementing a deal with leftist FARC guerrillas to end a half-century of civil war, Colombian Ambassador Juan Carlos Pinzon said in an interview Monday.

April 4, 2017

Red-hot Wesley So sets the pace in early rounds of U.S. chess title race

So young. So talented. So successful. That pretty much sums up the recent record of the 23-year-old Filipino-born U.S. GM Wesley So, who has been perhaps the world's most successful tournament player of the past year. He's looking to extend that run -- and an unbeaten streak that has now reached nearly 60 games -- at the 2017 U.S. championship tournament at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis.

April 4, 2017

Russian Culture Ministry idles ‘Fast and Furious 8’ in favor of government-backed cosmonaut flick

The Russian Culture Ministry has reportedly tapped the brakes on the release of the latest installment of Hollywood's "The Fast and the Furious" mega-franchise to give a government-backed movie about cosmonauts a clear lane at the box office.

March 28, 2017

Webster University defines excellence with fifth straight college chess championship

Which is better -- the College Chess Final Four or its pretentious basketball rival?

March 28, 2017

Walter Shipman, a gentlemanly amateur with a chess pro’s talent

Walter Shipman, one of the last great amateurs from the great postwar generation of American chess, died last month at the age of 87 following a long illness.

March 24, 2017

U.S. Navy makes first port of call to Myanmar since World War II

A U.S. Navy vessel has made the first official port of call to Myanmar, formerly Burma, in seven decades, U.S. officials said Tuesday.

March 21, 2017