Samuel Shankland
| Sam Shankland | |
|---|---|
Shankland in 2014
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| Full name | Samuel L. Shankland |
| Country | United States |
| Born |
October 1, 1991 San Francisco, California, United States |
| Title | Grandmaster (2011) |
| FIDE rating | 2666 (March 2017) |
| Peak rating | 2679 (September 2016) |
| Ranking | 61 (October 2016) |
| Peak ranking | 57 (September 2016) |
Samuel L. Shankland (born October 1, 1991) is an American chess grandmaster (2011). He was California State champion in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012, Champion of State Champions in 2009, World U18 championship bronze medallist in 2008, and US Junior Champion in 2010. As a member of the United States team, Shankland was a gold medalist both at the 41st Chess Olympiad in 2014 and the 42nd Chess Olympiad in 2016 where the United States won gold for the first time in forty years. In September 2016, he was ranked 57th in the world.
In 2016, he competed on the first season of FOX's reality game show Kicking & Screaming, coming in eighth place with his survivalist partner Caleb Garmany.
Shankland was born in San Francisco, California. He learned to play chess at the age of 6, but didn't play in his first tournament until the age of 10. Shankland received his early chess education from the Berkeley Chess School.
Shankland graduated from Brandeis University in 2014 with a degree in Economics.
Shankland began his rise to prominence in 2008, winning the Pacific Coast Open and the California State Championship. He made his international debut at the World Youth Chess Championship under-18 section, where he tied for first place with Ivan Saric and Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son, taking home the bronze medal on tiebreak score and earning the title of International Master.
After losing his first two games in the 2010 US Junior Championship, Shankland won six out of the last seven rounds to tie for first place, and went on to clinch sole first with two back to back Armageddon victories over Ray Robson and Parker Zhao. This result qualified him for the 2011 U.S. Chess Championship.
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