‘Draw,’ She Said, to Round Up a Share of Women’s Chess Title

Sharon Burtman is, as one tournament spectator put it, “an in-your-face player.”

“Over the board, it’s a war,” Burtman said.

On Monday, after two weeks of intense and undefeated play against the top-ranked women chess players in the nation, Burtman, 27, of Orange, extended her hand to her rival. With that handshake, the two agreed to a draw and to share the U.S. Women’s Championship title.

Her opponent, Ukrainian-born Anjelina Belakovskaia, 26, a Brooklyn resident favored to win the championship, could have insisted they finish the match.

“I was prepared, I was ready for battle,” Burtman said later.

Burtman stood out in the crowd not only for her formidable chess moves but for her dress. For the final match, she wore her lucky leather cowboy hat and a vest studded with favorite pins, buttons and a souvenir sheriff’s badge from Knott’s Berry Farm. In earlier matches, she has donned an assortment of Disney-wear: a Tigger T-shirt, Disneyland fanny pack, Pumbaa the wart hog cap.

The Pumbaa cap, she says, “is perfect for chess.” Every time she looks down to study the board, Pumbaa stares into the eyes of her opponent.

When the tournament, sponsored by the U.S. Chess Federation, ended Monday, her record was four wins, five draws and no losses.

“I’m very happy right now,” she said afterward. “It’s nice being the only player in the tournament not to suffer any losses.”

Burtman has been playing chess since her junior high school days in the Boston area. She began seriously competing in her freshman year in high school and earned an “expert” rating from the U.S. Chess Federation in 1986.

She moved to Los Angeles from Massachusetts in 1991 to join her husband-to-be, Joel Friedman. Last year, the couple moved to Orange to be closer to Friedman’s job in Anaheim.

Besides competing, Burtman gives chess lessons and exhibition matches. She plays as many as 40 people simultaneously, and beats nearly all of them.

Burtman said she prepared intensely for the tournament, in which she has competed every year since 1987.

“Every round is tough. Every round is critical. Everybody has international experience and fantastic chess foundations.”

One of her opponents was 11-year-old prodigy Irina Krush of Brooklyn. Their match ended in a draw.

The tournament was held concurrently with the U.S. Closed Championship, featuring the 14 best male players in the country, including Josh Waitzkin, the subject of the movie “Searching for Bobby Fischer.” As in past years, the U.S. Closed competitors were all men.

The U.S. Chess Federation sponsors the separate women’s championship each year to promote play by women, who are outnumbered 99 to 1 in the field, according to tournament organizer Robert Tanner. In elementary school, as many as 20% of players are girls, but for a variety of reasons, they begin dropping out in their teens.

Burtman and other women players say that the lack of role models is one reason for the attrition rate. One of her goals is to remedy that.

“I’ve worked very hard to be a role model. This is a good opportunity to bring more girls and women into the game.”