Alexander Shabalov
Encyclopedia
Alexander Shabalov is an American
chess
grandmaster, the multiple winner of the U.S. Chess Championship
s; he was the 2007 US Champion. He was born in Latvia
, and like his fellow Latvians Alexei Shirov
and Mikhail Tal
he is known for courting complications even at the cost of objective soundness. As of the June 2007 rating supplement Shabalov had a United States Chess Federation
rating of 2671, ranking him seventh best among American chess players and 81st in the world.
Until recently, Alexander Shabalov regularly lectured chess players of all ages at the House of Chess, a store that he ran at the Ross Park Mall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, until it closed in mid-2007. He has been known to play against anyone who shows up, and to be similarly obliging to autograph-seekers. Shabalov is a four-time United States champion.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
grandmaster, the multiple winner of the U.S. Chess Championship
U.S. Chess Championship
The U.S. Chess Championship is an invitational tournament held to determine the national chess champion of the United States. Since 1936, it has been held under the auspices of the U.S. Chess Federation. Until 1999, the event consisted of a round-robin tournament of varying size...
s; he was the 2007 US Champion. He was born in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, and like his fellow Latvians Alexei Shirov
Alexei Shirov
Alexei Dmitrievich Shirov is a Soviet-born Latvian chess grandmaster. He has consistently ranked among the world's top players since the early 1990s, and reached a ranking as high as number four in 1998...
and Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
he is known for courting complications even at the cost of objective soundness. As of the June 2007 rating supplement Shabalov had a United States Chess Federation
United States Chess Federation
The United States Chess Federation is a non-profit organization, the governing chess organization within the United States, and one of the federations of the FIDE. The USCF was founded in 1939 from the merger of two regional chess organizations, and grew gradually until 1972, when membership...
rating of 2671, ranking him seventh best among American chess players and 81st in the world.
Until recently, Alexander Shabalov regularly lectured chess players of all ages at the House of Chess, a store that he ran at the Ross Park Mall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, until it closed in mid-2007. He has been known to play against anyone who shows up, and to be similarly obliging to autograph-seekers. Shabalov is a four-time United States champion.
Notable games
- Alexey Shirov vs Alexander Shabalov, Rapidplay 2001, Spanish Game: Schliemann Defense, Dyckhoff Variation (C63), 0-1
- Alexander Shabalov vs Varuzhan Akobian, US Championships 2003 2003, French Defense: Advance, Lputian Variation (C02), 1-0
- Alexander Shabalov vs John Fedorowicz, US Championships 2003 2003, Benko Gambit: Accepted, Pawn Return Variation (A57), 1-0