28 August 2010
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.
From Alexandra Kosteniuk’s
Also see her personal blog at
