David R. Sands
Articles by David R. Sands
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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published 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. Published May 12, 2024
Ominous signs emerge as Israel battles Hamas in Rafah, renewed fighting in northern area
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 Israeli forces continued advancing and thousands more Palestinian civilians attempted to flee the besieged city. Published May 12, 2024
‘Limited’ Israeli incursion into Rafah raises fresh doubts about Hamas cease-fire deal
Israeli troops rolled into Rafah Tuesday in what authorities said was a limited operation to eliminate the Hamas terror infrastructure in the eastern section of the besieged, beleaguered city on the southern Gaza Strip. Published May 7, 2024