2017 U.S. Women's Champion Sabina Foisor

Sabina Foisor

2017 U.S. Women's Champion

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Birthday: August 30, 1989

City: Durham, NC

Sabina Foisor has been a top contender in the U.S. Women's chess sphere for many years. She has competed in the every U.S. Women's Championship in the last decade. In 2017, Foisor entered the championship as an underdog, ranked 6th out of 12 competitors, and shocked American chess by winning clear 1st by a full point margin.

"If you asked people before the tournament “Who do you think will win the U.S. Women’s Title”, there is no chance that Sabina would be mentioned as even one of the top four names. ...When you combine her underdog status with the personal tragedy she endured with her mother’s unexpected passing, her win against all odds was even more awe inspiring. The moment when she officially became the U.S. Women’s Championship and embraced with her fiancé, Elshan Moradiabadi, was the most emotional scene I’ve ever seen in my career in chess." -Greg Shahade, "Ten Things We Learned from the 2017 U.S. Championships"

Following her U.S. Women's Championship victory, Foisor was named in the Forbes "30 Under 30" for the 2018 Games category. She is also a regular member of the U.S. Women's team at the Olympiad and World Team Championship. Here is her victory from the last round the 2017 U.S. Women's Championship, clinching the title with a queen sacrifice:

[pgn][Event "US Championship (Women)"]
[Site "St Louis, MO USA"]
[Date "2017.04.09"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Apurva Virkud"]
[Black "Sabina-Francesca Foisor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2262"]
[BlackElo "2272"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2017.03.29"]1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. Nf3 c5 6. dxc5 Na6 7. c6 bxc6 8. g3
d5 9. Bd2 d4 10. Ne4 Rb8 11. Nxf6+ Qxf6 12. Bg2 e5 13. O-O Bf5 14. Qc1 Bxd2 15.
Qxd2 h6 16. Qa5 c5 17. b3 e4 18. Nd2 Rfe8 19. Rad1 Rb6 20. Nb1 Qe7 21. e3 Bg4
22. Rd2 Nb4 23. exd4 e3 24. fxe3 Qxe3+ 25. Kh1 Rf6 26. Rg1 Qxg1+ 27. Kxg1 Re1+
28. Bf1 Rfxf1+ 29. Kg2 Rg1+ 30. Kf2 Ref1+ 31. Ke3 Rf3+ 0-1[/pgn]