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Monday, January 20, 2003

By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Alexander Shabalov, a chess grandmaster who was born in Latvia but has lived in Squirrel Hill for the past 10 years, went to Seattle last week as one of the favorites to win the U.S. Chess championship.

Alexander Shabalov, of Squirrel Hill, ponders a move against Varuzhan Akobian during the U.S. Chess Championships in Seattle. Shabalov defeated Akobian in 61 moves to win the championship late Saturday night. (Associated Press)

Twice before, in 1993 and 2000, he had tied for the title. But he'd never had sole possession of the title -- until Saturday night.

That's when he sacrificied his own queen to defeat an up-and-coming rival, Varuzhan Akobian, 19, an Armenian who now lives in California.

Shabalov, 35, won the $25,000 top prize, the biggest in the tournament's history.

"It feels fantastic," Shabalov said in a phone interview from Seattle last night.

"I was the No. 6 seeded player for the tournament, so I was one of the favorites, but I wanted to win the championship outright."

He said he "wasn't really surprised" that he won.

"I played well for the tournament, except Friday night. Everything went pretty smooth."

He could have clinched first place with a win or a draw Friday night, but he lost to Joel Benjamin of New York.

"All I needed was a draw, but I lost, so I was pretty angry with myself," he said.

"I was very disappointed Friday, but just for one night. I just decided I was going to do whatever I needed to do."

It took Shabalov 61 moves over almost six hours Saturday night to beat Akobian.

On Saturday, Shabalov, playing with the white pieces, tested Akobian with an aggressive opening. By mid-game, Akobian found himself in time trouble. Shabalov took an advantage that he sealed by sacrificing his queen on the 56th move; Akobian resigned five moves later.

As for the queen sacrifice, Shabalov said, "It might seem like a big deal for nonprofessionals, but for a grandmaster it's a pretty obvious thing."

Shabalov celebrated victory Saturday night with a paper cup of Scotch.

Shabalov lives with his wife, Olga. They have two daughters, Anna, 14, and Kathy, 10.

"He called me Saturday night about 10 and said, 'I won the championship'," Olga said last night from their home on Murray Avenue.

"He was very happy and I was very happy too. This is the first time he's gotten the sole title. Both of the other times he shared it with someone."

Shabalov, who was born in Riga, Latvia, started playing chess when he was 7. He moved to Pittsburgh with his wife and children in September 1992. Olga, who also was born in Riga, is a cardiologist at UPMC Shadyside Hospital.

Shabalov said he has spent as much as nine months of the year traveling and playing in tournaments, in places such as Russia, Germany, Spain, New York City, Boston, Hawaii, Philadelphia, Seattle and the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut.

He said he earns as much as $75,000 a year from the tournaments.

But now he's not traveling so much, he said. "I'm slowing down a little bit," he said.

He first came to America in 1990, playing in a tournament in Philadelphia. He won $3,000 and spent several weeks touring the eastern United States. "It was a fun time," he said.

The last round of the tournament drew hundreds of fans, with many standing on chairs in the back to get a better view of monitors displaying the moves.

"There were an incredible amount of people watching on the monitors," he said.

The finish capped a tense tournament, which entered its ninth and final round Saturday with eight players, including five former champions, tied for the lead with 5.5 points apiece. Those eight were matched against each other in the top four games Saturday.

A tie at the end of the day would have resulted in an overtime round of speed chess yesterday -- a high-stakes proposition, with tens of thousands of dollars on the line. Nevertheless, six of the players decided they would take their chances with that, and they quickly agreed to draw their games.

The strategy backfired when Shabalov and Akobian decided to go for it all. Because a win is worth one point while a draw is only worth half, the winner of the Shabalov-Akobian match would take the title; if they had drawn in the end, the tournament would have gone on to the high-speed blitz round.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Tom Barnes can be reached at tbarnes@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1548.