…“My goal is to be World Champion”

At the age of 26 Sam Shankland suddenly stopped being a “solid 2650 grandmaster” to win the 2018 US Championship ahead of Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura. That catapulted him into the 2700 club, and he followed up with a string of results that have taken him into the world top 25. It’s fascinating, therefore, to hear a recent lecture at the Los Angeles Chess Club where he talks about what changed, his ambitions for the future and what separates Magnus Carlsen from the rest.

At the start of the hour long lecture on February 16th 2019 in the Los Angeles Chess Club, Sam comments, “I’d like to inspire the next generation of American players and I hope I can touch some hearts today!” He then analyses the last round win over Awonder Liang that made him the 2018 US Champion, before going on to take questions from the audience. You can watch the whole video below:

Sam will attempt to defend his US Championship title in Saint Louis later this month, but first he’s playing in the inaugural Prague Chess Festival Masters that starts at 15:00 CET on Tuesday 6th March. You can follow all the games here on chess24!

See also:

• Los Angeles Chess Club
• Sam Shankland’s chess24 profile
• Report on Sam Shankland winning the 2018 US Championship