My most recent assignment for the Tribune-Review was a profile on Squirrel Hill chess grandmaster Alex Shabalov. My knowledge of chess being extremely limited (patience was not a quality I possessed when I was a kid and my dad tried to teach me), this one took a good bit of preparation but it ended up being an utterly fascinating conversation.
Shabalov couldn’t have been more welcoming, and although the story was about him preparing for the U.S. Chess Championship taking place this week, we got into a conversation about how much computers have changed the game and made it a young person’s sport. The story turned into how, at 49, he is the oldest player competing in this year’s tournament and is contemplating following all his contemporaries into retirement.
Here’s a link to the story:
On eve of national championship, chess grandmaster from Squirrel Hill ponders next move
KAREN PRICE FREELANCE 