Latvian-born grandmaster finishes first at chess championship

SEATTLE -- With a stunning queen sacrifice, Latvian-born grandmaster Alexander Shabalov of Pittsburgh defeated an up-and-coming rival to win the U.S. Chess Championship.

It took Shabalov 61 moves over almost six hours Saturday night to beat 19-year-old Varuzhan Akobian, an Armenian who lives in Glendale, Calif., for the $25,000 prize, the biggest in the tournament's history.

Among the women on Sunday, Anna Hahn, 26, of Jersey City, N.J., beat last year's top female finisher, 22-year-old Jennifer Shahade of New York City, and 19-year-old New York University student Irina Krush in a tie-breaking round of speed chess to take home the $12,500 women's championship.

Shabalov, 35, had twice tied for the title -- in 1993 and 2000 -- but this was his first outright championship. He could have clinched first place with a win or a draw Friday night, but he lost to Joel Benjamin of New York.

Celebrated with scotch

Shabalov celebrated victory Saturday night with a paper cup of scotch. "All I needed yesterday was a draw, but I lost, so I was pretty angry with myself. I just decided I was going to do whatever I needed to do."

Shabalov, playing with the white pieces, tested Akobian with an aggressive opening. By midgame, 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.

Drew hundreds of fans

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.

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 on Sunday -- 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.