Neil Falconer (April 1, 1923 – April 5, 2014) Many NorCal chess players recognize the name “Falconer” in reference to an annual award given to the highest rated youth chess player in Northern California. Established in 1999, the Falconer Award has been given to such notable players as GM Vinay Bhat and GM Sam Shankland.ContinueContinue reading “Puzzle Worthy Position 48”
Tag Archives: Sam Shankland
Winning Chess Moves: Caruana vs. Lenderman, 2018
The 2018 US Championship was an action packed event. The San Francisco Bay Area’s own Grandmaster Sam Shankland stole the spotlight by taking first place over such pre-tournament favorites such as Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura. Norcal chess enthusiasts weren’t exactly shocked by GM Shankland’s championship run as we have long since grownContinueContinue reading “Winning Chess Moves: Caruana vs. Lenderman, 2018”
Winning Chess Moves: Nakamura vs Shankland, 9/9/2021
The Champions Showdown 9LX is a rapid Fischer Random/Chess960 chess tournament that is currently taking place in Saint Louis, USA. Today’s winning chess move comes from the round 2 game between Grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura and Sam Shankland. White (Nakamura) has just recaptured with Rxe5. What is black’s (Sam Shankland’s) winning move? What is black’s winningContinueContinue reading “Winning Chess Moves: Nakamura vs Shankland, 9/9/2021”
An American in Tromso
Sam Shankland is sensational in his Chess Olympiad debut. After eight rounds against a difficult international field, Grandmaster Sam Shankland of the United States remains undefeated in Tromso, Norway. Those of us from the United States and especially California couldn’t be prouder of our representative at the 41st Chess Olympiad. Below is my personalContinueContinue reading “An American in Tromso”
Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 2
Another Day and another draw. This time round it was Anand who showed no difficulty moving the black pieces in a precisely played Semi-Slav. This, of course was not do to Gelfand playing for a draw. The line he chose to use against Anand’s defense he has used twice and won twice with. It isContinueContinue reading “Anand-Gelfand 2012: Round 2”