Alexander Shabalov

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Alexander Shabalov
Alexander Shabalov at the 2002 U.S. Chess Championships
CountrySoviet Union (until 1991)
Latvia (1992–1993)
United States (since 1994)[1]
Born (1967-09-12) September 12, 1967 (age 57)
Riga, Latvian SSR, Soviet Union
TitleGrandmaster (1991)
FIDE rating2475 (August 2025)
Peak rating2645 (July 1998)[1]
Peak rankingNo. 29 (July 1998)[2]

Alexander Anatolyevich Shabalov (Russian: Алекса́ндр Анато́льевич Шаба́лов; Latvian: Aleksandrs Šabalovs; born September 12, 1967) is an American chess grandmaster and a four-time winner of the United States Chess Championship (1993, 2000, 2003, 2007). He also won or tied for first place seven times in the U.S. Open Chess Championship (1993, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2015, 2016).

Chess career

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Shabalov was born in Riga, Latvia, and was known during much of his career for courting complications even at the cost of objective soundness, much like his fellow Latvians Mikhail Tal and Alexei Shirov. He has transitioned to a more conservative and positional playing style as of 2019.[3]

In 1997 and 2000, Shabalov tied for first place at the U.S. Masters Chess Championship. In 2002, he tied for first place at the Aeroflot Open in Moscow with Gregory Kaidanov, Alexander Grischuk, Aleksej Aleksandrov, and Vadim Milov. In 2009, Shabalov shared first place with Fidel Corrales Jimenez in the American Continental Chess Championship.[4]

Shabalov regularly lectured chess players of all ages at the House of Chess, a store he ran at Ross Park Mall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, until it closed in mid-2007.

In 2015 he was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame.

In 2019, Shabalov won the 23rd annual Eastern Chess Congress.[5]

In 2020, Shabalov won the 52nd annual Liberty Bell Open.[6]

Shabalov won the 2022 U.S. Senior Championship, defeating Grandmaster Larry Christiansen in the final round of the tournament to claim victory.[7]

Oil Portrait of Alexander Shabalov, Contemplating 2007
Oil Portrait of Alexander Shabalov, Smiling 2007

In 2024, Shabalov won the over-50 category of the World Senior Chess Championship.[8][9]

Appearances in Chess Olympiads

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Alexander Shabalov has appeared in five Chess Olympiads on teams from two different countries.  His first appearance was with the Latvian National Team at the 30th Chess Olympiad in Manila, Philippines, in 1992 under the Latvian spelling of his name, Aleksandrs Sabolavs.[10]  Despite Latvia being a very small country with only 2.6 million people, they were ranked 10th out of 104 teams, and managed to secure 5th place in the final standings, just 1/2 point behind the United States, and missing the Bronze Medal by only one point.[11]

After emigrating to the United States, he appeared on the U.S. National Team four times, in 1994, 1998, 2000, and 2004.  In chronological order of those Olympiads, the U.S. Team came in 7th, 2nd (Silver Medal), 26th, and 4th place.  Shabalov was the team's high scorer in both 1994 and 2000.  His best individual performance came in 1998 when he scored five points out of eight against high rated opposition on 2nd Board for a performance rating of 2693.[12] [13][14][15] This was the year when his peak rating of 2645 ranked him as the World's 29th highest rated player on the FIDE July Rating List.[16]

Notable games

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References

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  1. ^ a b "FIDE rating history :: Shabalov, Alexander". OlimpBase.
  2. ^ "FIDE Rating List :: July 1998". OlimpBase.
  3. ^ Guggenheimer, Paul (July 10, 2019). "Squirrel Hill chess grandmaster stays sharp before U.S. Senior Championship". TribLIVE.com. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  4. ^ "Continental Absolute Chess Championship Americas 2009". Chessdom. August 4, 2009. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2016.
  5. ^ "23rd Annual Eastern Chess Congress November 2019 United States of America FIDE Chess Tournament report". ratings.fide.com. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  6. ^ "52nd Annual Liberty Bell Open February 2020 United States of America FIDE Chess Tournament report". ratings.fide.com. Retrieved June 16, 2020.
  7. ^ "Winners crowned at 2022 U.S. Championships". www.fide.com. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  8. ^ Doggers, Peter. "Shabalov, Knaak, Klinova, Burchardt Winners At World Senior Championships". chess.com. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  9. ^ "32th World Senior Chess Championship 2024 Open 50+". chess-results.com.
  10. ^ "OlimpBase :: 30th Chess Olympiad, Manila 1992, individual results". www.olimpbase.org. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
  11. ^ "OlimpBase :: 30th Chess Olympiad, Manila 1992, team results". www.olimpbase.org. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
  12. ^ "OlimpBase :: 31st Chess Olympiad, Moscow 1994, individual results". www.olimpbase.org. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
  13. ^ "OlimpBase :: 33rd Chess Olympiad, Elista 1998, individual results". www.olimpbase.org. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
  14. ^ "OlimpBase :: 34th Chess Olympiad, Istanbul 2000, individual results". www.olimpbase.org. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
  15. ^ "OlimpBase :: 36th Chess Olympiad, Calvia 2004, individual results". www.olimpbase.org. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
  16. ^ "FIDE Rating List July 1998". www.olimpbase.org. Retrieved July 19, 2025.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alexander Shabalov.
Achievements
Preceded by United States Chess Champion
1993 (with Alex Yermolinsky) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Chess Champion
2000-2001 (with Joel Benjamin and Yasser Seirawan) 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Chess Champion
2003–2004 		Succeeded by
Preceded by United States Chess Champion
2007 		Succeeded by
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