News
And Interview with Orinda Grandmaster Sam Shankland on
Winning Gold Medal at TromsØ Olympiad
By Elizabeth Shaugnessy
This is an interview,
conducted by Elizabeth
Shaughnessy with GM Sam
Shankland who has just
returned from playing on the
US Olympiad team in Tromso,
Norway. He won a gold medal
having achieved a score of
9/10, the highest percentage
score in the entire Olympiad.
Elizabeth: By now most
Chess players know of your
remarkable achievement at
the Olympiad in Tromso. How
do you feel about it?
Sam: Of course I'm beyond
thrilled with my result, but
I've already mostly forgotten
about it. One of the most
important attributes that all
truly great chess players share
is intense ambition. The next
goal is to make this kind of
result the norm rather than
the extreme outlier.
Elizabeth: Did you think you
would do that well when you
qualified for the US Team?
Sam: Before the tournament
I did not have any particular
expectations - my only goal
was to play my best chess and
find the best move as many
times as possible. I think I
succeeded, although I also
caught quite a few good
Page 3
breaks to get to 9.0/10.
Elizabeth: At 22 years of
age you are the fifth
strongest player in the
country; do you hope to
become the strongest?
Sam: Of course I hope to
become the strongest. At
the moment there is not
such a big gap between #2
and #5, so I could see
myself climbing that far
pretty soon if I manage to
show some strong results,
but Naka is really in a
league of his own- it will
take a lot of work to catch
him. Plus I hear Wesley is
switching...
Elizabeth: I have played in 6
Chess Olympiads and I find
the experience itself
extraordinary. Were you able
to do any socializing?
Sam: My socializing was
greatly limited - our prep
work was intense and I barely
had any energy for anything
else. I tried to just think of it
as any other tournamentprepare hard, play hard, and
don't get distracted by
anything else.
Elizabeth: What has inspired
you to continue?
Sam: As I mentioned before,
I was never satisfied with any
CalChess Journal
GM Shankland at Best of the West
Photo by Richard Shorman
achievement. It always felt
great to get to a new level, but
I would never be content there
for long. Pushing myself to the
maximum has always been a
priority, and this has been
true for my chess
development in all phases.
Slow and steady wins the race
they say.
Elizabeth: Is there anything
or any person or persons who
stand out as having been
especially influential?
Sam: Of course I never would
have made it to where I am
without all the help I received
along the way. First and
foremost to my parents, my
first sponsors who took me to
Summer 2014