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Wednesday, March 20, 2013
2013 Samford Chess Fellowship Awarded to GM Sam Shankland
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2013 Hi everyone,
The FRANK P. SAMFORD, JR. CHESS FELLOWSHIP, marking its twenty-seventh annual award, has selected Grandmaster Sam Shankland of Orinda, California, as its 2013 Fellow. The Samford is the richest and most important chess fellowship in the United States. It identifies and assists the best young American chess masters by providing top-level coaching, strong competition and access to study materials. The Fellowship also supplies a monthly stipend for living expenses so that the winners may devote themselves to chess without having financial worries. The total value of the Fellowship has been increased several times over the years and is now $42,000 annually. The prize is awarded for one year and can be renewed for a second year. The winners’ term begins July 1st, 2013. IM John Donaldson, in his report at the USCF website, further writes: All in all, it gives these brilliant young American Grandmasters the support and resources necessary to enhance their skills and reach their full potential. Currently rated 2612 by FIDE, Sam Shankland was awarded the GM title at the age of 20. His career highlights include tying for first in the under 18 category in the 2008 World Youth Championships, taking third in the 2011 US Championship, beating Hungarian Super GM Peter Leko in the 2011 World Cup and winning both team and individual gold while playing for the US team in the 2013 Pan American Team Championship.
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
The latest Fide chess tournament news is about the Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club of San Francisco having organised the Third Imre Konig Chess Memorial on September 22-23 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of International Master Konig, the first top-rated chess player to reside in San Francisco.
The event, sponsored by Tibor Weinberger, was a seven-player round-robin, featuring a rapid time control of Game in 25 minutes, with a 15-second increment from move one.
Top six rated players from the Bay Area were invited – Grandmasters Sam Shankland, Nick de Firmian, Vinay Bhat, Jesse Kraai and Walter Browne, and International Master Daniel Naroditsky. The last player, Grandmaster Emil Anka of Hungary, pays respect to Konig’s ancestry as an international cosmopolitan who was born in the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in Kula, in today’s Serbia.
Final standings:
1-2. GM Sam Shankland 2601 and IM Daniel Naroditsky 2483 – 4/6 3-4. GM Jesse Kraai 2514 and GM Nick de Firmian 2510 – 3,5 5. GM Emil Anka 2382 – 3,0 6. GM Vinay Bhat 2511 – 2,0 7. GM Walter Browne 2449 – 1,0 Prizes: 1. $2000 2. $1500 3. $1000 4. $900 5. $800 6. $700 7. $600
US Chess Scoop Video from World Open 2012 Featuring Sokolov, Shabalov, Others
Chess blog for latest chess news and chess trivia (c) Alexandra Kosteniuk, 2012
Hi everyone,
Here is the nice World Open (July 2-8, Philadelphia) US Chess Scoop video featuring tournament winners GMs Ivan Sokolov (the champ on tiebreak) and four-time US Chess Champion Alexander Shabalov. The video also features GMs Yury Shulman, Sam Shankland, US Women's Champion Irina Krush, James Black, and norm-earner Luke-Harmon Vellotti. Extreme Chess Champ Elliott Liu also has a special message for Marc Arnold, who earned a GM norm.
You can read our post on the tournament victory by GM Ivan Sokolov at this Chess Blog post.
Chess has taught me how to fight adversity better: US Junior Chess Champion
IM Sam Shankland
Hello Everyone,
Did you keep track of the US Junior Chess Championship that we followed on the blog a few weeks back? Remember how Sam Shankland had said in his blog that he was quitting chess and then 'returned' to win the championship?
Well, Shankland's off to college now. What interested us was the stuff he said in a recent interview.
As he finishes his first week of college, Shankland said he values the broadening experiences chess has taught him.
"Chess has also sort of made me learn to fight adversity a little bit better." As a child and even during the beginning of high school, Shankland said he was “ruthlessly made fun of.”
“It definitely taught me to keep on fighting even if other people are making fun of you or whatever. Just believe in myself.”
And, as many chess players say, Shankland too agrees: It is hard not to tell people about his career if chess comes up in a conversation.
He hopes that people will realize chess players are “just completely normal people who happen to be really good at this game.”
You can read the full interview here. You can read our blog report on Shankland's US Junior Championship win here.
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The FRANK P. SAMFORD, JR. CHESS FELLOWSHIP, marking its twenty-seventh annual award, has selected Grandmaster Sam Shankland of Orinda, California, as its 2013 Fellow. The Samford is the richest and most important chess fellowship in the United States. It identifies and assists the best young American chess masters by providing top-level coaching, strong competition and access to study materials. The Fellowship also supplies a monthly stipend for living expenses so that the winners may devote themselves to chess without having financial worries. The total value of the Fellowship has been increased several times over the years and is now $42,000 annually. The prize is awarded for one year and can be renewed for a second year. The winners’ term begins July 1st, 2013. IM John Donaldson, in his report at the USCF website, further writes: All in all, it gives these brilliant young American Grandmasters the support and resources necessary to enhance their skills and reach their full potential. 
