28/06/2026
A very interesting story:
Chess Grand Master Alexander Shabalov was hosted by our Macau Chess World Club from 22 to 25 June 2026.
He kindly gave a lecture on the Sicilian Dragon Opening, on the 23rd June, and a Simultaneous Chess Exhibition on the 24th June, at our full house MCWC club centre.
He is a superb and creative chess player, once ranked World number 29th, peak rating 2645; he was USA and USA Open champion, and USA team member, in multiple years; he was World Open Champion five times (1997, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2012), was World Seniors Champion in 2024; and entered into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 2015.
On June 22, he arrived at noon to Macau, after participating at the Hong Kong 2026 World Teams Rapid and Blitz Chess Championships, and amazingly, two more famous Chess Grand Masters arrived on the TurboJet with him:
His Global Ramblers team mates:
WGM Anna Zatonski:
- Peak FIDE Rating: 2537, U.S. Women's Chess Champion four times;
and GM Alexander Motylev:
-Peak FIDE Rating 2710, World No. 23 ; Russian Champion (2001); and European Champion (2014)with an astonishing performance rating of 2872…
We took them shortly to the Saint Paul Church Façade for a photo, before lunch.
The famous UNESCO World Heritage Site Ruins of St. Paul’s Church, a Façade and stairs, serves as the definitive symbol of the city: it was built by the Jesuits from 1602 to 1640, destroyed by a fire during a typhoon; its monumental stone façade stands atop a small hill, accessed by a grand staircase of 68 stone steps.
Astonishingly, - to us, and them, - they met two other World Top Grand Masters making photos at the stairs:
Legendary Chess Grand Master Alexandra Kosteniuk:
Women’s World Champion (2008–2010), Inaugural Women's World Cup Champion (2021) , Women's World Rapid Championship in late 2021, European Women's Blitz Champion in 2024;Peak FIDE Rating: 2561;
and her husband GM Pavel Tregubov:
Peak FIDE Rating: 2658, European Champion (2000), a world-class competitor and an influential voice behind the scenes of professional chess.
We wonder if they met at the step 64? A Chess board holds 64 squares and 32 moving pieces and pawns…
We were happy to invite and host them for lunch at the unique and iconic century old Portuguese food restaurant A Vencedora;(which has in our modest opinion the best Portuguese style boiled codfish dish menu in the World).
WGM Anna Zatonski and GM Alexander Motylev then left to Hong Kong Airport for their flights.
And in the evening we hosted the three legendary Grand Masters at a welcome reception dinner with some of our best friends and family, at the century and half old Macau Military Club.
We made a group picture in front of Konstantin Bessmertny grandiose painting depicting 007 James Bond Quantum of Solace (2008) movie, where The British Foreign Secretary, standing with a drink in hand, complains to his companion, a Cardinal in the painting, -where Napoleon also shows somehow, -about the host's lack of taste, muttering: "If he can't afford decent caviar, he shouldn't invite people."
Though we didn’t offer caviar, and there were no Tuxedos nor black ties; we were very glad to see that all our guests were delighted with our princely and sumptuous hospitality! A formula of multiple wines to mate a menu of multiple dishes created by top famous Portuguese Chefs for The Portuguese Cuisine Week that had just ended.
Below we show some photos of these memorable events.