I was curious as to Shankland’s next tournament, following his great run this past Spring. It was rumored he might get the wild card invitation to next month’s Sinquefield Cup, but, understandably, Carlsen was given precedence. Nonetheless, Sam will be playing in an 8 player RR in Danzhou China, beginning July 27. The average ELO of the 8 players is 2729, and includes 4 rising young stars – Wei Yu, Santosh Vidit, Jan Duda and Vladimire Fedoseev. Le Quang Liem of Vietnam and Yu Yangyi and Bu Xiangzhi of the host country round out the field. (Thanks to John Donaldson’s Mechanics Institute newsletter for the information.)
No doubt, this is Shankland’s toughest tournament of his career – in spite of being rated (2727) near the tournament average. Here’s hoping that Sam can hold his own and secure his reputation for future top tournament invitations.
