Shabalov Alexander (12.09.1967)

US Grandmaster (1991) born in Latvia. US Champion in 1993, 2000 and 2007. Discovered the game of chess by watching his father play with his friends. He soon proved to be of talent by winning the highly competitive U16 Championship of the Soviet Union in 1982.

Among his chess teachers were the late Mikhail Tal and Vladimir Bagirov. Because of political turmoil, Alex decided to move to America in 1992 and ended up in Pittsburgh where his wife obtained a medical residency. In 1993, Alex won both the prestigious US Open and the US Championship sharing the latter title with Yermolinsky. Alex debuted for the US team during the 1994 Moscow Olympiad and later played second board in the Elista Olympiad. In 2000 Alex won the national title again but had to share it with Yasser Seirawan and Joel Benjamin. Since then Alex became one of the best US player winning another US title in 2007 and many European events.

Best results: US Open 2003, 1^st; Lewy Memorial 2003, 1^st; North American Open 2004, 1^st; Chicago Open 2004, 1^st; Isle of Man Open 2005, 1^st-2^nd; World Open 2007, 1^st-6^th; Continental Open 2007, 1^st; US Open 2008, 1^st; Foxwoods Open 2008, 1^st-4^th; Manhattan Open 2011, 1^st; Pittsburgh Open 2011, 1-2^nd.; US Open in 2015 and 2016,1^st.

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

Peak rating: 2637 in 2007.