2003 AF4C US Chess Championships, 9-18 January Northwest Rooms, Seattle.
AF4C US Women's Championship Playoff
In
a fairytale ending to decide the 2003 Af4C US Women's Champion, underdog Anna
Hahn, from Jersey City, N.J, caused a major chess upset in the three-way playoff
for the crown by beating former champions Jennifer Shahade and Irina Krush.
Scoring back to back wins against the two top US women players gave Hahn both
the title and the record first prize of $12,500. For Hahn, 26, who was seeded
No.6 for the women's crown at the start of the Championship, the final result
proved to be the biggest win of her career - and one that shocked many of the
commentators and spectators in the playing hall.
Biographical details of Anna Hahn, 2003 AF4C US Women's Champion:
Women's International Master Anna Hahn was born in Riga, Latvia June 21, 1976
and currently resides in Jersey City, N.J. As a child she used to watch her
father and grandfather play chess and when she was seven years old her grandfather
decided to take her to the local chess club.

Jennifer Shahade |

Irina Krush |
Her best chess achievements include the Latvian Women's Champion in 1992 and,
after moving to the U.S., tying for second place in the World Girl's Championship
in 1993. Anna earned her Women's international master title in 1995. In 2000
Anna participated in the chess Olympiad in Turkey, and the women's world championship
in India.

She likes chess because of the logic and complexity of the game. Besides chess
Anna is fond of dancing and she loves music and goes to a lot of concerts and
performances. In other sports, her interests are in tennis and kickboxing. In
December 1998 she became a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania in Finance
and Computer Science and is currently working at Goldman Sachs Investment Bank
as a programmer. Anna is now also doing a part time Masters Program in Carnegie
Mellon (NY location), studying Computational Finance.

The 2003 US Champions: Alexander Shabalov and Anna Hahn
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