Samy Shoker

Born in 1987 in France, of French and Egyptian parents, Samy Shoker attends Texas Tech University in Lubbock as a graduate student in French, and is also a member of the Texas Tech University Chess Program. He lived in Egypt for four years as a child and learned to play chess at the age of four.

“My father, who is Egyptian, taught me how to play chess which is popular in that country,” he says.

Shoker has played chess for twenty years and attended chess clubs in France and Egypt. As a Grandmaster, he competes in tournaments so that other players have the opportunity to score norms against him. He became an International Master in 2006 and a Grandmaster just this past May: Shoker earned the elite title with his third GM norm at the 32nd Open International D'échecs de Metz in France.

In addition to chess and his studies, he enjoys playing soccer and running.  Before he came to Lubbock for graduate school, he was a teacher, instructing children between the ages of four and seven in reading, writing, math and chess.  When he finishes school, Shoker would like to return to teaching, this time in the field of French literature.