{{short description|American chess grandmaster (born 1991)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2024}} {{Infobox chess player |name = Sam Shankland |image = SamShankland23c.jpg |caption = Shankland in 2023 |birthname = Samuel L. Shankland |country = United States |birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1991|10|01}} |birth_place = Berkeley, California, U.S. |title = Grandmaster (2011) |peakranking = No. 24 (February 2019) |peakrating = 2731 (February 2019) |FideID = 2004887 }}
'''Samuel L. Shankland'''<ref>{{cite web|url =https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/crosswords/chess/02chess.html|title =Americans Break Through at World Youth Tournament|first =Dylan|last =Loeb McClain|website =The New York Times|date =November 1, 2008|quote =Samuel L. Shankland of California}}</ref> (born October 1, 1991) is an American chess grandmaster. He won the U.S. Chess Championship in 2018.
Shankland was California State Champion in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2012, and Champion of State Champions in 2009. He won bronze at the 2008 World U18 Championship, and was US Junior Champion in 2010.<ref name=chessbase>{{cite web|title=Sam Shankland US Junior Champion in bidding war|url=http://en.chessbase.com/post/sam-shankland-us-junior-champion-in-bidding-war|publisher=ChessBase|accessdate=7 March 2016|date=2010-07-22}}</ref> He earned his international master title in 2008 and his grandmaster title in 2011. Shankland surpassed a FIDE rating of 2600 in 2012, and entered the world's top 100 players in 2014.
As a member of the United States team, he won the gold medal for the best individual performance on the reserve board at the 41st Chess Olympiad. He also was part of the team at the 42nd Chess Olympiad, where the United States won team gold for the first time in forty years. In 2018, he won the U.S. Chess Championship, simultaneously breaching the 2700 barrier for the first time in his career.
==Early and personal life== Shankland was born in Berkeley, California,<ref name=chessbase/><ref>[http://ratings.fide.com/title_applications.phtml?details=1&id=2004887&title=GM&pb=30 GM title application]. FIDE.</ref> to Leslie and Jim Shankland.<ref name=morinda>[http://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue0509/Sam-Shankland-Orindas-Chess-Grandmaster.html Sam Shankland-Orinda's Chess Grandmaster] ''Lamorinda Weekly''</ref> He lived there until he was four, when his brother was born and the family moved to Orinda.<ref name=chessbase/>
His father taught him how to play chess at the age of 6, but he did not give the game much attention until he joined the chess club at Glorietta Elementary School in fourth grade. He quickly surpassed the level of chess at Glorietta, and began playing in tournaments by the age of 11.<ref name=morinda/>
In 2014, he graduated from Brandeis University with a BS in economics.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://alumni.brandeis.edu/stories/alumni/2020-12-7-chess-shankland.html |title=Grandmaster Sam Shankland '14 on "The Queen's Gambit" and Chess Today |date=December 7, 2020 |work=Brandeisian Stories |publisher=Brandeis University |accessdate=August 2, 2021}}</ref>
In 2016, he competed in the first season of FOX's reality game show ''Kicking & Screaming'', finishing in eighth place with his survivalist partner Caleb Garmany.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/sam-shankland-i-was-starving-in-the-jungle |title=Sam Shankland: "I was starving in the jungle |author=Root, Alexey |date=March 18, 2017 |work=Chess News |publisher=ChessBase |accessdate=August 2, 2021}}</ref>
==Chess career==
===2008=== 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.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|last=Shahade|first=Jennifer|authorlink=Jennifer Shahade|title=Interview with an American Medallist: IM Sam Shankland|url=http://www.uschess.org/content/view/8968/500/|website=uschess.org|accessdate=July 20, 2015}}</ref>
===2010=== 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.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Wilmering|first1=Mike|title=A Perfect Storm Leads IM Sam Shankland to US Junior title|url=http://www.uschess.org/content/view/10548/596|website=uschess.org|accessdate=July 21, 2015}}</ref>
===2011=== In January 2011, Shankland earned the title of Grandmaster at the Berkeley International.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Michael|first1=Aigner|title=GRANDMASTER Sam Shankland!|url=http://fpawn.blogspot.ch/2011/06/grandmaster-sam-shankland.html|website=fpawn chess blog|accessdate=July 21, 2015}}</ref>
He finished third in the 2011 U.S. Chess Championship, after first defeating Alexander Onischuk in a playoff game,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Klein|first1=Mike|title=Shankland Pulls Off Upset; Zatonskih's Comeback Continues|url=http://www.uschess.org/content/view/11159/628/|website=uschess.org|accessdate=21 July 2015|date=22 April 2011}}</ref> and then Robert Hess in an Armageddon match. This result qualified him for the 2011 FIDE World Cup.
In the 2011 World Cup, Shankland defeated Hungarian super-grandmaster Peter Leko in the first round, but lost to Abhijeet Gupta in the second.<ref>{{cite web|author=Sam Shankland|title=Shankland on the World Cup: Making the Most of Luck|url=http://www.uschess.org/content/view/11384/640/|website=uschess.org|accessdate=21 July 2015|date=6 September 2011}}</ref> Shankland's victory over Leko in the first round was the biggest upset of the tournament.
===2012=== Shankland won the Northern California International ahead of strong GMs Georg Meier, Alejandro Ramirez, Yury Shulman, and Bartlomiej Macieja.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Kostya Kavutskiy|title=Shankland Wins Northern California International|url=http://www.uschess.org/content/view/11563/647/|website=uschess.org|accessdate=21 July 2015|date=9 January 2012}}</ref>
===2013=== In 2013, Shankland made his debut for the US national team at the Pan American Team Chess Championship in Campinas, Brazil, leading them to victory with a performance rating over 2800.<ref>[http://www.olimpbase.org/playersp/nxl7r17h.html Panamerican Team Chess Championship: Samuel Shankland]. OlimpBase.</ref>
Shankland was selected as the 27th Samford Fellow. The Samford is a fellowship given once a year to a promising young American player, providing the funds necessary for the recipient to devote him or herself to chess without being restrained by financial concerns.<ref>{{cite web|last=Donaldson|first=John|authorlink=William John Donaldson|title=2013 Samford Fellowship Awarded to GM Sam Shankland|url=http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12134/704|website=uschess.org|accessdate=21 July 2015|date=19 March 2013}}</ref>
Shankland clinched first place at the ZMDI Open in Dresden, Germany, edging out on tiebreak score Mikhailo Oleksienko and Georg Meier.<ref>{{cite web|title=ZMDI Open 2013|url=http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/4-tournaments/7355-zmdi-open-2013.html|website=FIDE|accessdate=21 July 2015|archive-date=24 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924042036/http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/4-tournaments/7355-zmdi-open-2013.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
===2014=== At the 41st Chess Olympiad in Tromsø, Norway, Shankland took home gold for his performance as a reserve player. Going undefeated, he scored 9 points out of 10 games, giving him a performance rating of 2829 for this tournament.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Chess_Informant|title=Live Chat With Sam Shankland|url=http://www.chess.com/article/view/live-chat-with-sam-shankland|website=Chess.com|accessdate=21 July 2015|date=21 August 2014}}</ref> In round 8, Shankland defeated legendary GM Judit Polgar in her last professional game. Polgar announced her retirement from chess at the end of the event.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Mark Crowther|title=Judit Polgar to retire from professional chess|url=http://www.theweekinchess.com/chessnews/events/41st-olympiad-tromso-2014/judit-polgar-to-retire-from-professional-chess|website=The Week in Chess|accessdate=21 July 2015|date=13 August 2014}}</ref>
Shankland shared first place at the American Continental Championship, qualifying him for the 2015 World Cup.
On December 14, 2014, Shankland broke into the top 100 chess players worldwide.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Shankland|first1=Sam|title=Shankland on his Rise From GM to Top Hundred: Part I|url=http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12944/141/|website=uschess.org}}</ref>
===2015=== Following his gold medal in Tromsø, Shankland was promoted to first board of team USA for the World Team Chess Championship, where he played with a performance rating over 2700 and drew against elite players Levon Aronian, Alexander Grischuk, and Boris Gelfand, all of whom were in the top fifteen players worldwide at the time.
Shankland took third place in the Tata Steel Challengers group, with a score of 9.0/13 and a performance rating of 2695.<ref>{{cite web|last=Doggers|first=Peter|title=Carlsen wins 2015 Tata Steel Wei Yi promotes from Challengers 9036|url=http://www.chess.com/news/carlsen-wins-2015-tata-steel-wei-yi-promotes-from-challengers-9036|website=Chess.com|date=26 January 2015 |accessdate=20 July 2015}}</ref>
Shankland competed in the 2015 Chess World Cup, where he defeated GM Ivan Popov in the first round, but lost in a tiebreak in the second round to GM Hikaru Nakamura.
===2016=== In March 2016, Shankland took first place in the Fagernes International. In June, 2016, he won the Edmonton International.<ref>{{cite web|last=Doggers|first=Peter|title=Edmonton: Ganguly Does A Caruana, Shankland Wins|url=https://www.chess.com/news/edmonton-ganguly-does-a-caruana-shankland-wins-9323|website=Chess.com|date=28 June 2016 |accessdate=7 October 2016}}</ref> In August, 2016, Shankland won the 49th Biel Masters.<ref>{{cite web|last=Silver|first=Albert|title=Biel Main Open: resounding victory for Shankland|url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/biel-main-open-resounding-victory-for-shankland|website=en.chessbase.com|date=5 August 2016 |accessdate=7 October 2016}}</ref> In September, 2016, Shankland played as fourth board for the United States at the 42nd Chess Olympiad, where the team earned gold for the first time since 1976.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sands|first=David|title=BREAKING: U.S. wins first gold in four decades at chess Olympiad|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/sep/13/breaking-us-wins-first-gold-four-decades-chess-oly/|website=WashingtonTimes.com|accessdate=7 October 2016}}</ref> In September 2016, he was ranked 57th in the world with an Elo rating of 2679.<ref>{{cite web|title=Standard Top 100 Players July 2015|url=http://ratings.fide.com/top.phtml?list=men|website=FIDE|accessdate=20 July 2015}}</ref>
===2017=== In December 2017, Shankland was runner-up at Sunway Sitges International Chess Festival, in Sitges (Barcelona, Spain), with a score of 6.0/9 (half a point behind GM Aravinth<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://en.chessbase.com/post/sitges-sunway-previa-2017|title=Aravindh takes Sitges Sunway 2017|date=2017-12-24|work=Chess News|access-date=2018-09-20|language=en-US}}</ref>), after defeating GM Salem Saleh in a blitz chess play-off for the second place. He played the regular tournament with a performance rating of 2713.
===2018=== In April, Shankland took clear first in the US Chess Championship with a score of 8{{frac|1|2}}/11 (+6–0=5). He finished half a point, two points, and three points ahead of Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Hikaru Nakamura, respectively. He took home $50,000 in prize money, and increased his rating to 2701 in the process, breaching the 2700 barrier for the first time in his career and becoming the seventh American to pass the 2700 barrier.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/may/04/sam-shankland-us-champion-fabiano-caruana Chess: Sam Shankland surprise US champion ahead of Fabiano Caruana] ''The Guardian''</ref>
In May, he won the Capablanca Memorial, scoring 7{{frac|1|2}}/10 (+5–0=5) for a performance rating of 2831. This result vaulted him further up the world rankings, putting him at No. 30 with a live rating of 2717.<ref>{{cite web|url =https://en.chessbase.com/post/shankland-crushes-capablanca-memorial|title =Shankland crushes Capablanca Memorial|publisher =ChessBase|first =Alex|last =Yermolinsky|date =May 20, 2018}}</ref>
In June, he won the American Continental Chess Championship, finishing clear first with 9/11 (+7–0=4).<ref>[https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/american-continental-championship-2018/11/1/1 American Continental Championship] Chess24</ref>
===2019=== In January, Shankland finished with 6.5/13 at the Tata Steel Masters, sharing 7th place in what has been called the strongest tournament in the world. He drew his first ever game with World Champion Magnus Carlsen, and he defeated former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik in the final round (Kramnik's final classical game before retiring). Shankland reached a peak rating of 2731 and #22 in the World.
===2021=== In June, Shankland won the Prague Masters with 5.5/7 and a performance rating over 2900, the best result in the tournament's history.
Shankland reached the quarterfinals of the Chess World Cup 2021, earning a spot in the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix. In the quarterfinals he lost on tiebreaks to GM Sergey Karjakin, 4–2.
=== 2022 === Through February and March 2022, Shankland played in the FIDE Grand Prix 2022. In the second leg, he placed second in Pool A with a 3.5/6 result. In the third leg, he tied for first with Wesley So in Pool C with a result of 3.5/6 but lost in rapid tiebreakers with a result of 0.5/2. He finished ninth in the standings with eight points.
=== 2025 === Won the 2025 American Continental Chess Championship, held in Brazil in May, qualifying him directly for the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025<ref>https://continental2025.fideamerica.net</ref>. Competed at the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2025, held in Uzbekistan in September, where he finished in 64th place with 5.5/11 (tied for 51st with 20 other players before applying the tie-break criteria)<ref>https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1246285.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=11&turdet=YES&flag=30&SNode=S0</ref>. Reached the quarter-finals of the FIDE Chess World Cup 2025 in November after defeating Vasyl Ivanchuk, Vidit Gujrathi, Richárd Rapport, and Daniil Dubov, before losing to Andrey Esipenko in the rapid tie-breaks<ref>https://worldcup2025.fide.com/results/</ref>.
==Books== *{{cite book | author=Shankland, Sam | title=Small Steps to Giant Improvement: Master Pawn Play in Chess | publisher=Quality Chess | year=2018 | isbn=9781784830502}} *{{cite book | author=Shankland, Sam | title=Small Steps 2 Success: Mastering Passed Pawn Play | publisher=Quality Chess | year=2020 | isbn=9781784830892}} *{{cite book | author=Shankland, Sam | title=Theoretical Rook Endgames | publisher=Quality Chess | year=2024 | isbn=9781784831967}}
==Chessable Publications== *{{cite book | author=Shankland, Sam | title=Sam Shankland's 1. d4 - Part 1: Sidelines | publisher=Chessable | year=2020 |url=https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-sam-shankland-s-1-d4-part-1-sidelines/course/47519/}} *{{cite book | author=Shankland, Sam | title=Sam Shankland's 1. d4 - Part 2 | publisher=Chessable | year=2020 |url=https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-sam-shankland-s-1-d4-part-2/course/53465/}} *Shankland, Sam (2020). Shankland's Semi-Slav.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lifetime Repertoires: Shankland's Semi-Slav - Chessable |url=https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-shanklands-semi-slav/course/31529 |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=www.chessable.com |language=en}}</ref>[https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-shanklands-semi-slav/course/31529/] Chessable *{{cite book | author=Shankland, Sam | title=Sam Shankland's 1. d4 - Part 3 | publisher=Chessable | year=2021 |url=https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-sam-shankland-s-1-d4-part-3/course/58696/}} *Shankland, Sam (2021) Lifetime Repertoires: Berlin Defense.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lifetime Repertoires: Berlin Defense - Chessable |url=https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-berlin-defense/course/92500 |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=www.chessable.com |language=en}}</ref> Chessable *Shankland, Sam (2021) Lifetime Repertoires: Classical Sicilian.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lifetime Repertoires: Classical Sicilian - Chessable |url=https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-classical-sicilian/course/68589 |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=www.chessable.com |language=en}}</ref> Chessable *Shankland, Sam (2023) Lifetime Repertoires: Neo-Catalan part 1.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lifetime Repertoires: Neo-Catalan - Part 1 - Chessable |url=https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-neo-catalan-part-1-/course/138154 |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=www.chessable.com |language=en}}</ref> Chessable *Shankland, Sam (2023) Lifetime Repertoires: Neo-Catalan part 2.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lifetime Repertoires: Neo-Catalan - Part 2 - Chessable |url=https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-neo-catalan-part-2/course/156980 |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=www.chessable.com |language=en}}</ref> Chessable *Shankland, Sam (2023) Lifetime Repertoires: Neo-Catalan part 3.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lifetime Repertoires: Neo-Catalan - Part 3 - Chessable |url=https://www.chessable.com/lifetime-repertoires-neo-catalan-part-3/course/184869 |access-date=2024-01-29 |website=www.chessable.com |language=en}}</ref> Chessable *Shankland, Sam (2024) Total Board Vision for Beginners<ref>{{Cite web |title=Total Board Vision for Beginners - Chessable |url=https://www.chessable.com/total-board-vision-for-beginners/course/207319 |access-date=2025-09-19 |website=www.chessable.com |language=en}}</ref> Chessable
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website|https://samshankland.com/}} * {{FIDE}} * {{USCF|12852765}} * {{Chessgames.com player|114803}} * {{365Chess.com player|Sam_Shankland}} * {{Chess.com player|sam-shankland|member=Shankland}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ach}} {{succession box | before = Wesley So | title = US Chess Champion | years = 2018 | after = Hikaru Nakamura }} {{s-end}} {{Authority control}} {{American chess grandmasters}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shankland, Sam}} Category:1991 births Category:Living people Category:Chess Grandmasters Category:Chess Olympiad competitors Category:Chess players from Berkeley, California Category:Participants in American reality television series Category:Brandeis University alumni Category:21st-century American chess players Category:American expatriate sportspeople in Germany