The Hoogeveen Open has managed to attract two American chess aces: Jaan Ehlvest and Alexander Shabalov. Jaan Ehlvest (1962), of Estonian origin, was youth champion of the USSR in 1980, and European youth champion in 1983. In 1988 he made it to the Candidates’ Matches, where he lost to Artur Jussupow. In 1990 he won the tournament in Reggio Emilia ahead of Vasily Ivanchuk and Anatoly Karpov. He had already crossed swords with all the world’s top players when he started to play in events in the United States in the 1990’s, the country he moved to in 2006. In 2008 he became American Continental champion in Boca Raton. With his enormous knowledge and experience Ehlvest is still a dangerous opponent for anyone.
Latvian-born grandmaster Alexander Shabalov (1967) often trained and played with his friend Alexey Shirov in the beginning of their careers. Shirov later became a world top player, who played a match with Anish Giri in Hoogeveen last year. Shabalov too has a predilection for sacrificing and attacking. Together they learned the trade from the legendary former World Champion Mikhail Tal. ‘Shabba’ emigrated to the United States in the early 1990’s, and soon became the King of open tournaments there. He gained the national U.S. Title four times: in 1993, 2000, 2003 and 2007. Over there they say (USCF website): If you’re watching the first board of an open tournament, and the pieces are flying in all directions, it’s a good bet that Shabalov is one of the players.’
