🏆 2020 Author of the Year 🏆
Grandmaster Sam Shankland is one of the hardest working chess players and teachers today.
The California native didn’t waste any time making waves in the chess world. After starting his tournament career at the age of 11, GM Shankland went on to win four state championships and the US Junior Championship - all before the age of 20. He has continued to dominate the American chess to this day, with strong showings at the US Championship and other major tournaments. It was just a matter of time before he won the US Championship outright in 2018, beating out top players like Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Hikaru Nakamura. The tournament victories have only continued to pile up since.
And he’s just as fearsome on the international stage. His brilliant performance in the 41st Chess Olympiad helped secure the gold for America for the first time in 40 years at the event. With a “Super GM” rating of over 2700 FIDE, you can regularly find him contending at major international events - and his momentum shows no signs of slowing.
Even with all these triumphs over the board, GM Shankland somehow manages to find time to produce high-quality chess lessons. Though he is a regular lecturer on all major chess websites, his characteristic thoroughness is particularly well-suited to the Chessable Lifetime Repertoire series. He has produced comprehensive repertoires for the the Semi-Slav, Classical Sicilian, and more. Check out his work below and apply GM Shankland’s secrets for success to your own games.
