national and world
tournaments during his
college years, Shankland
attained his GM status - the
highest ranking a chess player
can attain - at the same
tournament hall where he'd
spent a good deal of his
childhood: Berkeley's Hillside
School, home to the Berkeley
Chess School for many years,
and still the site of its Berkeley
Friday night classes and
tournaments.
A 2014 graduate of Brandeis
University, Shankland is now
ranked #1 in California and
eighth in the US, and was
recently featured on the cover
of Chess Life magazine. Last
year he was awarded the
prestigious Samford Prize,
which offers a $42,000
stipend for a top young US
chess player to spend a year
developing his or her game,
providing access to top
coaches and competitive
international tournaments.
Chess Federation's 2014 AllAmerican Team, which honors
the top young chess players in
the country. Last year,
Stearman and his fellow BCS
student Callahan McCartySnead, 8, (one of the top ten
players in the US in his age
group), travelled to the United
Arab Emirates to participate
in the 2013 World Youth
Chess Championships. It was
Stearman's second World
Youth tournament: in 2011, at
the age of 8, he competed in
Brazil. Stearman's father has
played and continues to play a
seminal role in Josiah's
development as a chess player,
according to BCS president
Shaughnessy.
Stearman was recently named
a member of the United States
In the 32 years since it began,
the Berkeley Chess School has
shepherded thousands of
students of all incomes and
backgrounds into using
critical thinking and careful
deliberation to achieve their
goals, said Shaughnessy,
herself a former member of
the Irish Women's Chess
Team.
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CalChess Journal
BCS also encourages
graciousness, honesty,
courtesy, and "old fashioned
good manners" both on and
off the board, she added. "Sam
has grown into a courteous
young man who has worked
hard to achieve excellence in
his chosen field and has been
recognized internationally for
his success. Josiah is a gifted
boy with impeccable manners
and a great sense of fun, who
plays soccer and baseball as
well as chess. It is clear that he
will be successful at whatever
he chooses to do in life."
"BCS has never been an
organization bent on
producing state or national
champions, and yet we have
produced state champions
every year since 1986! I am so
proud of them both, so
grateful to have had the
chance to work with them,
and wish them the best of all
that life has to offer," she
said.
Summer 2014