I wish I had a life so hard to sob about.
I played Shankland when he was 1800. He played thousands of games, studied, etc. to get where he is.
All IMs have done that.
Last time I checked, you weren't an IM.
Sam Shankland recently appeared on the US Chess Scoop (4th video down):
http://main.uschess.org/content/view/10513/596/
This really troubled me. I like Sam quite a bit, knowing him through his work on Chess.com. This attitude startled me coming from him. While I'd seen him being upset with losses and bad breaks, he's never taken something this badly as far as I'm aware. (A somewhat related side note - IM Bryan Smith, despite performing more than well enough, failed to make a GM norm at the event because he was paired against only 2 Grandmasters in the Swiss system event - an example of FIDE's ridiculous technicalities as Sam mentions). While I agree that some of FIDE's rules are ridiculous, and I agree that this (the US) is NOT the best country for chessplaying, It would sadden me to see Sam give up tournament play, especially if he actually means what he is saying/implying and really just never plays again, or worse, if he never does anything chess-related at all.
Do you really think he's serious about totally giving up chess? (It would be especially nice if someone who actually *knows* IM Shankland would chime in ;))
being from northern california, i met sam a few years ago. we never played even any speed games which is what he always seemed to be doing when I saw him. However i must say that the only thing in chess that prevents anyone from attaning a grandmastership is the fact that you did not play well enough. if you get two grandmasters you have to beat them, not simple at all i Understand but that is the way of life. there is no mercy in chess you must kick your oppenent while he is down.
I wish I had a life so hard to sob about.
I played Shankland when he was 1800. He played thousands of games, studied, etc. to get where he is.
All IMs have done that.
Last time I checked, you weren't an IM.
Did you really go to ALL the trouble of checking? WOW!!!!!!!!
However i must say that the only thing in chess that prevents anyone from attaning a grandmastership is the fact that you did not play well enough.
This is false. If you play in a tournement and win all your games against grandmasters your performance is good enough, but if you didn't play people from enough foreign countries, FIDE will not award you the title. This is exactly what happened to Sam. He has had 4 tournaments where he played well enough to earn GM norms. Despite the fact that you only need 3, FIDE will not award the title because in 2 of those events FIDE does not count them due to rules that have nothing to do with Sam's performance.
Yep, exactly. IM Shankland had a limited window to get the title before going to college, it's understanable that he would have been frustrated.
However i must say that the only thing in chess that prevents anyone from attaning a grandmastership is the fact that you did not play well enough.
This is false. If you play in a tournement and win all your games against grandmasters your performance is good enough, but if you didn't play people from enough foreign countries, FIDE will not award you the title. This is exactly what happened to Sam. He has had 4 tournaments where he played well enough to earn GM norms. Despite the fact that you only need 3, FIDE will not award the title because in 2 of those events FIDE does not count them due to rules that have nothing to do with Sam's performance.
Excellent explanation and simple to understand. Basically, Sam Shankland has proved that he has played well enough to be awarded the GM title. It sounds like America is not being treated fairly by FIDE. That means that FIDE is a bunch of poop.
Why can't the U.S.C.F. award GM titles?
The title of International Grandmaster can only be awarded by the Federation International Des Echecs.
The USCF can give Sam Shankland all the national titles they want, but since they don't title anyone from other countries, it won't have much meaning.
The FIDE rules about playing aginst opponents from other federations are most likely in place to keep a federation from getting false titles for their players by having their top players lose to them. It seems reasonable at first blush, and FIDE isn't targeting the US per se, but when you look at the geography differences between Europe and North America, it's obviously easier for someone in Europe to play people from several different countries.
The title of International Grandmaster can only be awarded by the Federation International Des Echecs.
The USCF can give Sam Shankland all the national titles they want, but since they don't title anyone from other countries, it won't have much meaning.
The FIDE rules about playing aginst opponents from other federations are most likely in place to keep a federation from getting false titles for their players by having their top players lose to them. It seems reasonable at first blush, and FIDE isn't targeting the US per se, but when you look at the geography differences between Europe and North America, it's obviously easier for someone in Europe to play people from several different countries.
He would have HAD to been aware of all this before playing in ANY tournaments for the title.
No, it depends on who you get to play in the tournament, which you can't always control in a Swiss Style event.
The title of International Grandmaster can only be awarded by the Federation International Des Echecs.
The USCF can give Sam Shankland all the national titles they want, but since they don't title anyone from other countries, it won't have much meaning.
The FIDE rules about playing aginst opponents from other federations are most likely in place to keep a federation from getting false titles for their players by having their top players lose to them. It seems reasonable at first blush, and FIDE isn't targeting the US per se, but when you look at the geography differences between Europe and North America, it's obviously easier for someone in Europe to play people from several different countries.
He would have HAD to been aware of all this before playing in ANY tournaments for the title.
Well, sort of. I mean, yes, he knew that the requirments were in place, but on the other hand it's very difficult to control whether or not you'll meet them. Most American tournaments are big swisses, and it's quite difficult to guarantee that you'll hit enough foreigners or GMs as you have no control over the pairings, and, in situations like the tournament which led to the rant in question, the organizers have advertised title opportunities, whereas they actually got such a low percentage of foreigners and/or highly enough titled players that there's a very very low (in some cases 0) chance that you'll play three of each, even if you do perform well enough for a norm.
The title of International Grandmaster can only be awarded by the Federation International Des Echecs.
The USCF can give Sam Shankland all the national titles they want, but since they don't title anyone from other countries, it won't have much meaning.
The FIDE rules about playing aginst opponents from other federations are most likely in place to keep a federation from getting false titles for their players by having their top players lose to them. It seems reasonable at first blush, and FIDE isn't targeting the US per se, but when you look at the geography differences between Europe and North America, it's obviously easier for someone in Europe to play people from several different countries.
Another great response that points towards a simple solution.
We fly Sam Shankland to Europe so he can play international GM's and beat them, thus getting his GM title with only one, maybe two round trip airplane tickets. I suggest we start a donation drive to fly Sam over to Europe and get this entire matter behind us.
Diamond members, by definition, are the wealthy class. 
How many Diamonds and Platinum members are on this site, and how much would each need to contribute to get Sam's butt over to Europe to kick some GM butt?
This is a simple word problem. Someone, run the numbers and tell us how much each of us needs to contribute. I would pitch in 10 bucks without hesitation. 
The young man is brilliant and I am confident that he can score the norms in Europe.
He's gone to Europe on at least one, and, I'm fairly confident, more than one ocassion. I know he played in the last Capelle La Grande for instance. Sam's good, but the norms don't simply make themselves - you're not going to play at that level every tournament.
I'm not very good at chess.
I dont play competitively.
I think if you deserve the title "grandmaster" you must be so good at chess that you're going to get the title eventually because you're so good anyway. Is there some benefit to being titled grandmaster sooner?
Honestly, I'm ignorant on the specifics... pocket my two cents or throw them back in the tray.
no offense to im shankland
Two things: first, the sooner you get it, the more certain you are to get it - Sam's going to college now and has much less time to give to Caissa. Second, there is a huge financial incentive to having a higher title.
wandering
that makes sense. I understand the frustration
However i must say that the only thing in chess that prevents anyone from attaning a grandmastership is the fact that you did not play well enough.
This is false. If you play in a tournement and win all your games against grandmasters your performance is good enough, but if you didn't play people from enough foreign countries, FIDE will not award you the title. This is exactly what happened to Sam. He has had 4 tournaments where he played well enough to earn GM norms. Despite the fact that you only need 3, FIDE will not award the title because in 2 of those events FIDE does not count them due to rules that have nothing to do with Sam's performance.
you only proved my point. he didn't play well enough within the rules, he may or may not have known going into the tourny that not enough people from different countires would be there. but that should have been a consideration if he was serious about title hunting. it's no matter though, as he has 5 norms now.
I wish I had a life so hard to sob about.
I played Shankland when he was 1800. He played thousands of games, studied, etc. to get where he is.
All IMs have done that.