- Canadian Open, Toronto 2010
- 23rd North American Open, Las Vegas 2013
- PWC Open, Toronto 2009
- 49th Canadian Open, Toronto 2011
- 49 Canadian Open, Toronto 2011
- 50th Canadian Open, Ottawa 2013
- 23rd North American Open, Las Vegas 2013
- Canadian Open, Toronto 2011
| About game | Result | Link |
|---|---|---|
| GM Luke McShane (ENG) – IM Artiom Samsonkin (CAN) | 1-0 (lost) | link |
Not every day have an opportunity to play against Luke McShane, an elite super Grandmaster, reaching 2700 rating at one point, and being a member of England National Team. After getting into an equal middle game, white having not enough power to attack the pawn on e6, finds a brilliant way to create another source of attack by creating an open file on move 24! This game is great for understanding principle of 2 weaknesses and how to keep attacking when it seems that the attack has exceeded itself. Despite a hurting loss, this game is one of a few I never forget.
| About game | Result | Link |
|---|---|---|
| GM Alexander Shabalov (USA) – IM Artiom Samsonkin (CAN) | 0-1 (won) | link |
A very sharp, stressful game, against Alexander, a multiple USA Champion, in which the moves are reminding me of a tennis match hitting the ball back and forth. Attacking each other but also being considerate at the same time, this game makes a great example of playing balanced between attack and defense – on move 23 critical moment!
| About game | Result | Link |
|---|---|---|
| IM Samsonkin (CAN) – GM Nakamura Hikaru (USA) | 1-0 (won) | link |
Strongest player I ever played. Hikaru doesn’t need an introduction, everyone knows him. In this game the audience could observe such concepts as: provoking a favorable trade, open file, attacking an uncastled king using a sacrifice. By many, this considered to be the best game played by me, however, because of a blunder by black on move 16, I don’t consider taking advantage is the best compare to my other games in which I worked much harder.
| About game | Result | Link |
|---|---|---|
| GM Benjamin Joel (USA) – IM Artiom Samsonkin (CAN) | 1/2 (draw) | link |
For those who doesn’t know Benjamin, he was hired as the official Grandmaster consultant by IBM to help with the development of Deep Blue, a chess computer that defeated World Champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. In this game, the observer, can learn about anticipating opponents attack ( move 8 and 9 by white), power of a bishop pair (for white), and power of an outpost (for black knight).
| About game | Result | Link |
|---|---|---|
| IM Artiom Samsonkin (CAN) – GM Mark Bluvshtein (CAN) | 1/2 (draw) | link |
Before retiring from chess, Mark was like a chess icon for Canada, representing Canada at elite international tournaments and leading Canadian Chess. It was an honor to be representing Canadian Men’s National Team together with him in 2010 at the 39th World Chess Olympiad. This sharp game is useful for understanding how pawn structure affects piece mobility as well as weaknesses.
| About game | Result | Link |
|---|---|---|
| IM Artiom Samsonkin (CAN) – GM Nigel Short (ENG) | 0-1 (lost) | link |
Not every day there is an opportunity to play against someone like legendary Nigel. Its an honor. This game is an example like many others by Karpov, Capablanca, Botvinnik, of creating resources (moves 19 and 22 by black) to attack and provoke an opponent for a mistake in equal positions. Very well played by Nigel.
| About game | Result | Link |
|---|---|---|
| IM Yang, Darwin (USA) – IM Artiom Samsonkin (CAN) | 1/2 (draw) | link |
This game is one of my best games for defensive skills. After a bitter positional blunder on move 17, I somehow was able to defend my king from one of the deadliest attacks I’ve ever seen. Just defend defend defend! Every single threat. Oh boy, I feel sorry for my king in this game, but i hope he isn’t mad at me at the end of the day. Moral of the story, never give up, there is always a way!
| About game | Result | Link |
|---|---|---|
| GM Victor Mikhalevskiy (ISR) – IM Artiom Samsonkin (CAN) | 0-1 (won) | link |
Victor is a strong Grandmaster from Israel, one of the chess countries. This game helped me to understand when the knight is better than the bishop and vice versa. The answer is! Pawn structure! Its not just about open or closed position which we always hear about as a factor. Pawn structure will make certain important squares available or unavailable, therefore, making it possible for the knight to be better than the bishop even in an open position and vice versa bishop being better then the knight in a closed position!