Shankland Defeats Erenburg for First

Shankland Pounces at Pacific

FM-elect Sam Shankland pulled off a surprise last-round upset to take out GM Sergey Erenburg at the Pacific Coast Open. The last-round win brought Shankland into a four-way tie for the first prize--and all the GP points that go with it. Shankland, who is now sixteen, is within two points now of the 2400 rating mark! Also tying for first were GM Melikset Khachiyan, IM Enrico Sevillano, and FM Robert Aghasaryan. You can find the full standings here.

For more on the Pacific Coast Open--including full analysis of Sam Shankland's last-round victory--check out long-time chess journalist Jerry Hanken's first-ever "blogs" for CLO!

Shankland photo credit: NM Michael Aigner

Fernandez Finishes Top of His Class

IM Daniel Fernandez finished as the "valedictorian" of the Master Section of the U.S. Class Championships, held July 18-20 in Houston, Texas with a GPA--er, score--of 4.5/5.0, ahead of "salutorian" Warren Harper, whose 4.0/5.0 performance was definitely worthy of an A+. You can find the full standings here.

KibBlitzing with FM-elect Sam Shankland

These days it seems Sam Shankland is always in the headlines. Whether it's making it to the U.S. Championship, scoring an IM norm at the World Open, or--like this week--defeating a seasoned Grandmaster, Sam Shankland has been churning out one incredible performance after the other. Want to see his responses to our KibBlitz questions? Read the KibBlitz here.

Chess.FM Update: IM Mark Ginsburg!

This week, we bring you John Watson's radio interview with colorful chess personality IM Mark Ginsburg. Mark is a chess writer, teacher, and "warrior" who has decades of tournament experience. After listening to the show, be sure to check out his blog, in which he has meticulous annotations on his games at the 2008 World Open--something no fan of the King's Indian or Catalan will want to overlook.