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Shabalov 
Photo courtesy of "WannaBe"  
Alexander Shabalov
Number of games in database: 1,114
Years covered: 1978 to 2009
Current FIDE rating: 2607
Highest rating achieved in database: 2672
Overall record: +510 -260 =331 (61.4%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games
      Based on games in the database; may be incomplete.
      13 exhibition games, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (165) 
    B90 B62 B32 B82 B20
 Ruy Lopez (52) 
    C85 C92 C77 C80 C73
 French Defense (39) 
    C02 C18 C11 C13 C10
 Sicilian Najdorf (38) 
    B90 B96 B97 B99 B95
 Sicilian Richter-Rauser (37) 
    B62 B67 B63 B66 B65
 Nimzo Indian (31) 
    E32 E20 E34 E39 E38
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (122) 
    B33 B30 B22 B90 B32
 Semi-Slav (64) 
    D45 D44 D47 D43 D46
 Alekhine's Defense (43) 
    B05 B03 B02 B04
 Slav (42) 
    D10 D11 D15 D13 D14
 Queen's Pawn Game (28) 
    A46 E10 D02 A40 D00
 French Defense (28) 
    C05 C11 C10 C01 C12
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   Y Vetemaa vs Shabalov, 1986 0-1
   Shabalov vs Smirin, 1992 1-0
   Shabalov vs I Shliperman, 1995 1-0
   Shabalov vs V Akobian, 2003 1-0
   Shirov vs Shabalov, 2001 0-1
   Shabalov vs Fedorowicz, 2003 1-0
   Shabalov vs Kholmov, 1987 1-0
   Shabalov vs J Medina-Zamora, 1998 1-0
   Shabalov vs R Elseth, 1991 1-0
   Shabalov vs Yurtaev, 1989 1-0

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   Western Pennsylvania games and players by RonB52734
   Shabba-dabba-do (The games of Alexander Shabalov by VinnyRoo2002

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Alexander Shabalov
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ALEXANDER SHABALOV
(born Sep-12-1967) Latvia (citizen of United States of America)

[what is this?]
GM Alexander Shabalov was born in Riga, Latvia in 1967. He studied under former world champion and fellow Rigan Mikhail Tal. As a child, Shabalov emigrated to the United States with his family and eventually settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He has been the United States Chess Champion four times: in 1993 (with Alex Yermolinsky); 2000-2001 (with Joel Benjamin and Yasser Seirawan); in 2003-2004, and most recently in 2007. At the chessboard, Shabalov is known for courting complications and for an uncompromising, attacking style. As of August, 2006, his 2653 rating is 12th overall in the United States.

 page 1 of 45; games 1-25 of 1,114  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves Year Event/LocaleOpening
1. Jekabson vs Shabalov 1-022 1978 USSR 27/346B29 Sicilian, Nimzovich-Rubinstein
2. Tal vs Shabalov 1-039 1985 JurmalaD02 Queen's Pawn Game
3. Hoi vs Shabalov  ½-½16 1985 YurmalaB08 Pirc, Classical
4. Shabalov vs Osolinsh  1-028 1985 RigaA30 English, Symmetrical
5. Shabalov vs Gipslis  0-136 1985 Yurmala (Latvia)A15 English
6. Shabalov vs V Tukmakov  ½-½37 1985 YurmalaE32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical
7. Shabalov vs A Vitolinsh  0-142 1985 JurmalaB90 Sicilian, Najdorf
8. E Kengis vs Shabalov  1-030 1985 It ( cat. 9 )A30 English, Symmetrical
9. Shabalov vs Lutsko  1-040 1985 RigaA10 English
10. Bagirov vs Shabalov 1-025 1985 YurmalaA52 Budapest Gambit
11. Utasi vs Shabalov  ½-½57 1985 YurmalaD04 Queen's Pawn Game
12. Shabalov vs K Supatashvili  0-125 1985 Tbilisi (Georgia)C13 French
13. J Petkevich vs Shabalov  1-034 1985 RigaA30 English, Symmetrical
14. Shabalov vs I Gurevich  ½-½36 1985 YurmalaA80 Dutch
15. Shabalov vs Polishuk  1-040 1985 TbilisiA07 King's Indian Attack
16. Balashov vs Shabalov 1-025 1985 YurmalaA30 English, Symmetrical
17. Shabalov vs A Yap  1-042 1985 YurmalaE67 King's Indian, Fianchetto
18. V Ronin vs Shabalov 0-146 1985 KharkovB78 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack, 10.castle long
19. V Inkiov vs Shabalov  ½-½16 1985 YurmalaB54 Sicilian
20. A Vitolinsh vs Shabalov 1-035 1985 RigaB54 Sicilian
21. Shabalov vs D King  1-037 1985 YurmalaE39 Nimzo-Indian, Classical, Pirc Variation
22. V Shulman vs Shabalov  1-045 1986 RigaB02 Alekhine's Defense
23. A Anastasian vs Shabalov  0-138 1986 MinskA46 Queen's Pawn Game
24. Shabalov vs Ivanchuk  1-031 1986 Novosibirsk (Russia)A07 King's Indian Attack
25. Shabalov vs S Savcenko  1-041 1986 USSRD14 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav, Exchange Variation
 page 1 of 45; games 1-25 of 1,114  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Shabalov wins | Shabalov loses  
 

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 3 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing >
May-24-07   IMDONE4: Congratz Shaba on your fourth victory in the American CHampionship! I enjoy your reckless, innovative attacking style. The world should take Shabalov on next after Shulman, which would be bound to be an interesting game.
May-24-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  RonB52734: <IMDONE4> Capital idea!
Jun-10-07   PhilFeeley: The U.S. Championship must have tired him out. Irina Krush just beat him today in Las Vegas in 25 moves!
Jun-10-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Knight13: <PhilFeeley: The U.S. Championship must have tired him out. Irina Krush just beat him today in Las Vegas in 25 moves!> Irina must be very happy.
Jun-12-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  RonB52734: Pittsburgh City Council today made today, June 12, 2007 "Alexander Shabalov Day" in the City of Pittsburgh. A fitting honor in the City of Champions.
Jun-12-07   PhilFeeley: <Knight13: Irina must be very happy.> Yes. Here is the game. I'm not sure what the threat is at the end. Perhaps someone else can suggest?

[Event "Las Vegas International"]
[Site "Las Vegas"]
[Date "2007.06.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Krush, Irina"]
[Black "Shabalov, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "2488"]
[WhiteTitle "IM"]
[BlackELO "2671"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[Source "MonRoi"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Nbd7 11.g3 Qa5 12.exf6 b4 13.Ne4 Ba6 14.Qf3 Rd8 15.Be2 Nb6 16.Nc5 Rd5 17.Nxa6 Qxa6 18.Be3 b3 19.O-O bxa2 20.b3 Kd7 21.bxc4 Rf5 22.Qe4 Qa4 23.Rfc1 Ra5 24.Bd1 Qa3 25.Bf3 1-0

Jun-12-07   nescio: <PhilFeeley> Good game by Krush. In the final position she threatens 26.Qxc6+. E.g. 25...Qa4 26.Rxa2 Qxa2 27.Qxc6+ Kd8 28.Bf4 and the black king won't survive.
Jun-14-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Open Defence: i thought he was a young dude... hehehe the fantasy is ruined...
Aug-13-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  laskersteinitz: This guy just won the Continental Open, and is playing this week at the New England Masters. I think he's on his way up now.
Aug-13-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  chancho: I doubt he'll ever become an elite player. (he'll be 40 next month)
Aug-16-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  RonB52734: <chancho: I doubt he'll ever become an elite player. (he'll be 40 next month)> He is establishing himself as a player to be reckoned with in the US, and as the National Champion he'll play in some part or other of the WCC program. I know the competition at that level is incredible, and you have to go back a ways to find a US player who can hold his own in that kind of competition. I don't know if it will be Alex who will take US chess to the next level or maybe somebody younger, but we sure have reason to be excited here, and especially in Pittsburgh (Alex's town) about chess. And from where I sit, that's what it's all about. One interesting point is whether Alex's recent venture into giving chess lessons and lectures has improved his play? Given the coincidence of his starting to lecture and his recent string of tournament successes, one could at least make the argument, no?
Sep-27-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  iron maiden: Shabalov, Nakamura, Izoria, Sadvakasov, Charbonneau and a few other GM's currently taking part in the Miami Open that lasts until the end of this weekend. http://www.themiamichessopen.com/in...
Feb-15-08   cn1ght: Shabalov made a comment after one of his tournaments that he felt that his giving lessons at house of chess has increased his playing skill RonB52734, of course that was last year and I have not gotten around to going to house of chess since last year so I'm not sure if his opinion has changed, although I rather doubt it. Also chancho is probably correct in saying he'll not be great, although he's a gm for crying out loud, but I cannot see him achieving greatness. In fact he himself had made a comment once that he shied away from that path because at a tournament he was sharing a room with another person, the other guy woke up and sat in front of his computer, shabalov went out for the day and did other stuff, came back 8 hours later and the guy was still looking at almost the same position and shabalov realized that he does not want that situation for himself, I can't blame him.
Jun-01-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Peligroso Patzer: I suggest that CG.com add to their database the following game (presumably played at the World Open), which appears in Starting Out: Slav and Semi-Slav by Glenn Flear (Everyman 2005) at pages 128-129:

V. Mikhalevsky vs. A. Shabalov (Philadelphia 2003) 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Nbd7 11.exf6 Bb7 12.g3 Qc7 13.Bg2 c5 14.0–0 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Qb7+ 16.f3 0–0–0 17.a4 Nb6 18.axb5 cxd4 19.Ne4 Bh6 20.Bxh6 Rxh6 21.Qd2 Rh5 22.Qb4 Kb8 23.Nc5 Qd5 24.Qa5 Qxc5 25.Qxa7+ Kc8 26.Ra6 Qe5 27.Qxb6 Qe2+ 28.Rf2 Rxh2+ 29.Kxh2 Qxf2+ 30.Kh3 Rh8+ 31.Kg4 Rg8+ 0–1

Aug-09-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Albertan: GM Shabalov finished in second place in the third annual Edmonton International Chess Festival, which will took place between July 31st and August 4th, 2008 at the Edmonton Chess Club, in Edmonton,Alberta, Canada. Sporting a big cast on one of his arms,GM Shabalov was upset in round 2 by FM Raja Panjwani,and then lost a critical 6th round game to eventual tournament winner GM Moiseenko of the Ukraine This game can be viewed at http://www.ecf2008.com/games/round-6 .However, Shabalov finished the event strongly with wins over IM Leonid Gerzhoy,and GM Surya Sekhar Ganguly. Had Shabalov won his last round game against Canadian GM Mark Bluvshtein, the tournament winner would have had to have been arrived at using tiebreaks between Shabalov and GM Alexander Moiseenko. The final-round game between Shabalov and Bluvshtein can be played through at http://www.ecf2008.com/games/round-9
Dec-27-08   GrahamClayton: <PVS>U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONS SINCE 1930 1937 Chicago, IL -- D.S. Polland
1949 Omaha, NE -- Albert Sandrin Jr.

PVS,
A couple of obscure players there! Did the other top US players compete in these tournaments?

Mar-19-09   Jim Bartle: Mikhail Tal commented on Shabalov from his time training with him, Gipslis and Bagirov in Riga in the 80s:

"For example, one boy was very talented tactically, but he had no idea where to place his pieces! The cure was to have him go over T. Petrosian's and Ulf Andersson's games. Now he tries to trade queens right away!"

That didn't last!

Apr-23-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Albertan: GM Shabalov entered the 2009 Canadian Open Chess Tournament today! GM Shabalov, I look forward to seeing you here in Edmonton and I wish you well in our tournament! This event will be a 9-round open Swiss and these top players have already accepted inviations to the event:GM GM Alexei Shirov,Alexey Shirov Michael Adams, Michael Adams Victor MikhalevskiVictor Mikhalevski GM Surya Ganguly, GM Anton Kovalyov , GM Shabalov and
GM Bluvshtein.Mark Bluvshtein The official tournament website is at: http://monroi.com/2009-canadian-ope...
May-06-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Albertan: GM Shabalov won the Masters Section of the Heroes Day Cup,which was played in Bermuda with a score of 7.5/9. This event was played between April 27th-March 3rd, 2009. Congratulations GM Shabalov!. The official tournament website for this event is http://www.barbados.org/chess/
May-06-09   unsound: <Albertan> I think you're confusing Bermuda with Barbados. Thanks for the link, though.
Aug-23-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  vonKrolock: Final standings in the <"Campeonato Continental Absoluto de Xadrez das Américas"> in São Paulo, July/August 2009 - 270 players! here in D. Lima's blog (also links to games etc) http://www.continental2009.com/claf...
Oct-05-09   The Rocket: why does this guy only play on an average alekhines defence once a year nowdays when he has barely lost with it!!
Oct-05-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  dx9293: <The Rocket> Because you cannot play a second-rate opening like this consistently in US swisses. He would have problems against anyone rated 2400+.
Oct-06-09   The Rocket: "Because you cannot play a second-rate opening like this consistently in US swisses. He would have problems against anyone rated 2400+."

what are you talking about, its not a second rate opening! its sound for cryin out loud!, sicilian dragon for instance is far more dubious. And shabalov has beaten 2500+ player with alekhines defence for more than 10 years.

Its hard because the rating are not always mentioned but I know he has beaten Ian Rogers with it.

I can tell you that I am a semi-expert in the alekhine, I know the lines, the main themes and no lines gives me any problems.

And if its really a second rate opening why does a very strong grandmaster(but inconsistent) like Jonny hector(2568) who has beaten player like Boris Avrukh, Ulf andersson, Jan Timman e.t.c Play 2 nc3? that clearlt shows that he respects the main lines.

AND you claim that 2400+ players would give shabalov problems?=

Oct-10-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  dx9293: <The Rocket> The key word is <consistently>. Almost anything is playable once-in-awhile. The Alekhine isn't a bad opening, but it's definitely second-rate: if it wasn't, you would see more Top 100 GMs playing it.

I don't play the Sicilian Dragon, but I think it is a stretch to say it is more dubious than the Alekhine.

Jonny Hector has a lot of ability. Probably his results would be more consistent if he played mainstream openings more consistently.

I maintain that if it was known that Shabalov (or another strong GM) played something like the Alekhine more than, say, 70% of the time, he would soon experience problems because opponents would prepare for it and its main benefit at GM level—surprise—would be lost.

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