Shang Kelan and the Abandoned Child Soldiers

I just finished playing in the Yin Zhou Cup, a friendly match between the US and Chinese teams. The tournament was a lot of fun and my result was good, if unspectacular (2.5/5 in the slow games with 3 blacks, only losing to Wang Yue, and 6.5/10 in the rapid games), but unfortunately our Chinese counterparts proved to be far too worthy adversaries and really clobbered us. The American men lost by a final score of 47-28, and the women lost 54.5-20.5. Nonetheless, some really good chess was played and it was a great experience to play against some of the great Chinese players, and a great experience to visit China. I am very hopeful that I will be able to play the rematch in New York next year as well. I also greatly enjoyed the articles that were posted online, although unfortunately I had to rely on Google Translate to tell me what it said. Luckily, google translate was spot on. For example, I could not possibly sum up my win over Xiu Deshun better than they did:

　"Xiu Deshun player using against Shang Kelan, in the Bureau of stage repair Deshun unexpected errors, obtained by Shang Kelan center with abandoned child soldiers, then soldiers continue to move forward in this powerful threat, White hard to find effective defensive approach to 37 rounds, repair Deshun had to admit defeat."

http://sports.sina.com.cn/go/2013-07-23/21296685131.shtml

I'm also very happy to say that I seemed to break my poor streak, finally playing an event breaking even ratingwise. I miss having a 6 in my rating, but I am confident things are turning around and I am shaking the rust off. Next up is the ZMDI Open in Dresden, where I am hoping to continue to bounce back. 

Best of Luck to all,

GM Sam Shankland