US Championship 1985 — Estes Park
A year after his breakthrough title at Berkeley, Lev Alburt returned to defend it in the Colorado mountains, going 9½ from 13 games in a fourteen-player round-robin to edge a fast-rising Joel Benjamin by half a point for his second straight U.S. Championship.
Back-to-back for the defector champion
Lev Alburt had fled the Soviet Union in 1979 during a European team event in West Germany, arriving in the United States already a three-time Ukrainian champion and a grandmaster. His first U.S. title, won at Berkeley in 1984, was no fluke: at Estes Park a year later he went 9½ from 13 games to repeat as champion, the second of what would become three national titles, the last coming at Jacksonville five years afterward.
Joel Benjamin pushed him the whole way, finishing outright second on 9. Larry Christiansen and Lubomir Kavalek shared third on 8, half a point ahead of John Fedorowicz and Boris Kogan.
A tight all-play-all
With fourteen players meeting once apiece across thirteen rounds, the tournament produced a closely bunched field: nine of the fourteen entrants finished within three points of the winner. Walter Browne and Maxim Dlugy shared sixth on 6½; Kamran Shirazi, Nick de Firmian and Sergey Kudrin shared eighth on 5½; and Patrick Wolff and Dmitry Gurevich rounded out the upper half on 4½, with Michael McCambridge last on 4.
Final standings
| # | Player | Score | Record | Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alburt, Lev O | 9½/13 | +7 -1 =5 | games |
| 2 | Benjamin, Joel | 9/13 | +5 -0 =8 | games |
| =3 | Christiansen, Larry Mark | 8/13 | +4 -1 =8 | games |
| =3 | Kavalek, Lubomir | 8/13 | +3 -0 =10 | games |
| =5 | Fedorowicz, John P | 7/13 | +2 -1 =10 | games |
| =5 | Kogan, Boris Markovich | 7/13 | +2 -1 =10 | games |
| =7 | Browne, Walter Shawn | 6½/13 | +3 -3 =7 | games |
| =7 | Dlugy, Maxim | 6½/13 | +2 -2 =9 | games |
| =9 | Shirazi, Kamran | 5½/13 | +5 -7 =1 | games |
| =9 | De Firmian, Nick E | 5½/13 | +3 -5 =5 | games |
| =9 | Kudrin, Sergey | 5½/13 | +2 -4 =7 | games |
| =12 | Wolff, Patrick G | 4½/13 | +2 -6 =5 | games |
| =12 | Gurevich, Dmitry | 4½/13 | +1 -5 =7 | games |
| 14 | McCambridge, Vincent | 4/13 | +1 -6 =6 | games |
Cross Table
| Rank | Player | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alburt, Lev O | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | |
| 2 | Benjamin, Joel | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | Christiansen, Larry Mark | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 4 | Kavalek, Lubomir | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | |
| 5 | Fedorowicz, John P | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
| 6 | Kogan, Boris Markovich | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 7 | Browne, Walter Shawn | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | |
| 8 | Dlugy, Maxim | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | |
| 9 | Shirazi, Kamran | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 10 | De Firmian, Nick E | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | |
| 11 | Kudrin, Sergey | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | |
| 12 | Wolff, Patrick G | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 13 | Gurevich, Dmitry | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
| 14 | McCambridge, Vincent | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ |
Each cell shows the row player's recorded results against the column player. ● = same player.