USCF Affairs / Samford 2014 Samford Fellowship
GM Daniel Naroditsky named to prestigious fraternity. By IM JOHN DONALDSON
Samford Winners
The FRANK P. SAMFORD, JR. CHESS FELLOWSHIP, marking its 28th annual award, has selected GM Daniel Naroditsky of Foster City, California, as its 2014 Fellow. The Samford is the richest and most important chess fellowship in the United States. It identifies and assists the best young American chess masters by providing top-level coaching, strong competition and access to study materials. The Fellowship also supplies a monthly stipend for living expenses so that the winners may devote themselves to chess without having financial worries. The total value of the Fellowship has been increased several times over the years and is now $42,000 annually. The prize is awarded for one year and can be renewed for a second year. The winners’ term begins July 1, 2014. All in all, it gives these brilliant young American grandmasters the support and resources necessary to enhance their skills and reach their full potential. Currently rated 2632 USCF and 2543
FIDE, Daniel Naroditsky was awarded the grandmaster title last fall shortly before his 18th birthday. His career highlights include winning the World Under 12 championship in 2007 and the U.S. Junior Closed last summer. The latter was followed by grandmaster
norms (+2600 FIDE performance) in four consecutive events. Naroditsky has been ranked number 1 in the U.S. in his age category for the past eight years and is the youngest published chess author in history, having his first book published at age 14. The winners were chosen by the Samford Fellowship Committee, consisting
of Frank P. Samford III (son of Samford Fellowship founder Frank P. Samford, Jr.), former U.S. Chess Champion Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier and International Master John Donaldson. The winner’s potential was determined based on his chess talent, work ethic, dedication and accomplish - ments. The Fellowship is administered by the U.S. Chess Trust with particularly valuable services provided by Barbara DeMaro. The Samford Chess Fellowship was
created by the late Frank P. Samford, Jr. of Birmingham, Alabama. Mr. Samford was a distinguished attorney and CEO of Liberty National Life Insurance Company (now Torchmark). He was active in civic, business, political, educational and cul - tural affairs. Mr. Samford was also an enthusiastic competitor in chess tourna - ments. After providing financial support for several chess projects he decided to do something significant for American chess. The result was the Samford Fellowship. Since its inception the Fellowship has
proven very successful. Many Samford Fellows have become strong grandmasters, members of the United States Olympiad team and U.S. champions. America’s top two players, Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky, are former Samford Fellows. Generous contributions from the late
Mrs. Virginia Samford and the Torchmark Corporation support the Fellowship. The Samford Fellowship is a fitting memorial to an extraordinary man. The dedication, creativity and achievement that marked Mr. Frank P. Samford, Jr.’s life are exam - ples for all chess players to admire and emulate.
Naroditsky Named New Endgame Columnist
With GM Pal Benko retired after a 45-year run of “Endgame Lab,” Chess Life has secured GM Daniel Naroditsky as our new endgame columnist. With a nod to our history, the column’s title will be “The Practical Endgame,” ressurecting the late GM Edmar Mednis’ Chess Life column title from decades ago. The first column appears on page 46 of this issue. The 20- year-old Californian grandmaster has already proven himself an accomplished endgame writer, having published Mastering Complex Endgames: Practical Lessons on Critical Ideas & Plans in 2013.
2014 Daniel Naroditsky
1987 Joel Benjamin 1988 Maxim Dlugy 1989 Patrick Wolff 1990 Alex Fishbein 1991 Ilya Gurevich 1992 Alex Sherzer 1993 Ben Finegold 1994 Gata Kamsky 1995 Josh Waitzkin 1996 Tal Shaked 1997 Boris Kreiman 1998 Dean Ippolito 1999 Greg Shahade 2000 Michael Mulyar 2001 Eugene Perelshteyn 2002 Varuzhan Akobian 2003 Dmitry Schneider 2004 Rusudan Goletiani 2005 Hikaru Nakamura 2006 David Pruess 2007 Josh Friedel
2008 Irina Krush Vinay Bhat
2009 Ray Robson 2010 Robert Hess 2011 Alex Lenderman
2012 Timur Gareev Alejandro Ramirez 2013 Sam Shankland
www.uschess.org 17
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