Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new USA champion: Grandmaster Alexander Shabalov. In a great tournament, played from May 15‑23 in Stillwater, Okla., the 39‑year‑old Shabalov managed to win the USA championship by half a point over his most direct rival, 2006 USA champion Alexander Onischuk. In fact, Shabalov won all his games but two, one of which he drew, the other which he lost against Alexander Onischuk. So we can say it was a close race, but in my opinion, Shabalov was the fair winner. This is not the first time that Shabalov has won the USA championship, as he had already triumphed in 2003, 2000 (together with Joel Benjamin and Yasser Seirawan), and 1993 (together with Alexander Yermolinsky).

Shabalov was born on September 12, 1967, in the Latvian capital of Riga, but he moved to the United States when fairly young. His style heavily reflects the Latvian school, especially the style of world champion Mikhail Tal.

Both Tal and Shabalov love complications. Their way of playing is always spectacular, and their games are always spiced with sacrifices and impossible combinations. Shabalov’s games in this year’s USA championship have not been an exception. All his games (that you can find on monri.com/tournamentgate/US champ07/index.html) have been an exhibition of both precision and imagination.

The game we present today took place in the last round and was Shabalov’s last victory. Even a player of Sergey Kudrin’s caliber was totally overplayed by the American Tal–Alexander Shabalov. As a matter of fact, as early as the 27th move, all Kudrin’s pieces but the king were placed on the 8th row, and Shabalov did not stop pushing the position until he secured victory. Just one word: Impressive.