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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

SANDS: Iron man Kamsky falls just short in Thessaloniki in chess tourney

American GM Gata Kamsky came up just short of a remarkable double this week, blundering in a level position Monday against Italian GM Fabiano Caruana in the final round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Thessaloniki, Greece, to allow Cuban GM Lenier Dominguez Perez to pass him for the tournament title.

June 4, 2013

SANDS: Two top chess grandmasters fall in miniatures in Greece

After a long weekend, let's go with a couple of really short games. In an age of vast game databases, computer-aided study and 25 move-deep opening theory, it's remarkable how even the world's very best players can get themselves into trouble before the game has barely begun.

May 28, 2013

SANDS: Remembering German chess grandmaster Schmid

He was one of the game's greatest tacticians, equally at home on offense and defense in the most complicated situations. He was masterful at disarming a volatile, unpredictable opponent, and he held his own against the greatest players the game has ever known. He also played chess pretty well.

May 21, 2013

SANDS: Kamsky tops Ramirez in playoff for U.S. chess title

Breaking news — It came down to a single "armageddon" playoff game, but top-seeded GM Gata Kamsky claimed the 2013 U.S. championship in a thrilling finish Monday at the Chess Club Scholastic Center of St. Louis. He defeated Texas GM Alejandro Ramirez in a rapid playoff after the two finished atop the 24-player field with 6½-2½ scores.

May 14, 2013
Former South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford speaks with a vendor at the Mount Pleasant Farmers Market in Mount Pleasant, S.C., Tuesday, May 7, 2013. He faces Elizabeth Colbert Busch, the sister of political satirist Stephen Colbert, and Green Party candidate Eugene Platt, in Tuesday's balloting. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)

Late moves gave Sanford new life in S.C. House fight

Republican Mark Sanford's campaign for South Carolina's open House seat was slumping two weeks ago when he gambled on a stunt many at the time ridiculed: He "debated" a life-size poster-photo of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

May 7, 2013

SANDS: Kamsky, Krush hold lead in U.S. chess title chase

Top seeds GM Gata Kamsky and IM Irina Krush are setting the early pace at the U.S. men's and women's championships that got underway Friday at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis, with each posting three wins in their first three games.

May 7, 2013
Specialists Devin Cryan (left) and Gabriel Freytes wear a "Dow 15,000" hats as they work at a post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on May 3, 2013. A big gain in the job market lifted the stock market to a record high. The Dow Jones industrial average crossed 15,000 for the first time, and the Standard and Poor's 500 index, a broader market measure, rose above 1,600. (Associated Press)

Dow cracks 15,000 mark after jobs report

Wall Street rocketed into record territory Friday after the government released its latest jobs report, with the Dow Jones index of 30 top stocks cracking the 15,000 mark for the first time in history. Stocks retreated later in the day, but still posted a record closing price of 14,973.96, up 142.38 points or 0.96 percent.

May 3, 2013

SANDS: Top chess players in action at home and abroad

It's an embarrassment of riches for a chess journalist these days, with not one but two major tournaments in progress across the pond and the U.S. championships gearing up to start in St. Louis later this week.

April 30, 2013
Ruslan Tsarni, the uncle of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, speaks with the media outside his home in Montgomery Village, Md., on April, 19, 2013. (Associated Press)

Ruslan Tsarni says nephews Dzhokhar and Tamerlan are ‘losers’

The Maryland uncle for the two brothers suspected in Monday's Boston Marathon bombing angrily denounced his nephews as "losers" who failed to assimilate into American society, while saying it was a "fraud" to suggest their Islamic faith was to blame the attack.

April 19, 2013
The FBI has released a clearer image of Suspect No 2 in the Boston bombings, Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, age 19. (Courtesy of the FBI)

Dzhokhar Tsarnaev talked of Islamic faith: Moscow paper

Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev said on his Russian social media page that his world view was "Islam," while his older brother Tamerlan Tsarnaev talked about being "very religious" and complained there "are no values anymore," according to an English-language Russian newspaper.

April 19, 2013
(Associated Press)

Thatcher blazed trails around the world

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was famous for her uncompromising political style and unapologetic embrace of bedrock British middle-class values. "The lady's not for turning," she once famously remarked in a political debate.

April 8, 2013
**FILE** A sign marks Wall Street in New York. (Associated Press)

Markets fall on jobs report

The major U.S. stock markets headed down sharply Friday morning on the news that the economy added only 88,000 jobs in March, despite the official unemployment rate ticking down 0.1 percentage point to a four-year low of 7.6 percent.

April 5, 2013

Norwegian star Carlsen wins slot in chess world title match

Grandmaster Magnus Carlsen of Norway qualified for a match for the world chess championship Monday, narrowly winning the candidates tournament featuring eight of the world's best players in London. The 22-year-old chess superstar, the highest-rated player in the world, will take on reigning champ Viswanathan Anand of India in a one-on-one match later this year.

April 1, 2013