Men meet match in U.S. chess tourney

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

SEATTLE -- When the organizers of the U.S. Chess Championship decided to make this year's event coed, some questions arose about how the women would do.

Jennifer Shahade put them to rest.

The 21-year-old New York University student earned a draw against the top-rated player in the country, Seattle's Yasser Seirawan, offering solid evidence that organizers made the right decision by sitting men and women at the same board.

"It's great," said Larry Christiansen, 45, of Cambridge, Mass., who won the overall title after a grueling playoff match and ultimately a winner-take-all "shootout."

"Having segregated tournaments in this day and age, well, it's just very hard to explain," he said.

Christiansen and Nick de Firmian, a California native who now lives in Denmark, were tied with 6.5 points each at the end of regulation matches Sunday, the last day of the nine-day tournament.

The two were pitted in a playoff of four games of speed chess, each five minutes long. The first two ended in draws, Christiansen took the third and de Firmian the fourth to set up the shootout, which Christiansen won.

Shahade's five points gave her the best finish among the 12 women in the tournament and $9,500 in prize money.

The Olympian Copyright 2001

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