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A few hundred folks showed up to watch a billiards championship, and a chess match broke out.

And Allison Fisher proved she is still the grand master.

The world's No. 1 player came back from a 4-1 deficit Sunday night at Sandia Resort & Casino to beat Kim Shaw 7-5 and win her second straight U.S. Open 9-ball Championship.

The match between two British snooker veterans, playing on a table with tight pockets, featured plenty of defense and safety shots. Shaw seemed to have the upper hand early, winning two straight battles for the 1-ball. Her first win featured 11 shots at the 1-ball.

But Shaw, playing in her first tour final, gambled on a jump shot in the sixth game and gave Fisher an opening. Fisher regained the lead, twice running the table off her break.

"That's just her," Shaw said of her opponent and the game's dominant force the past 10 years. "She does that. It doesn't matter how far behind she is, she can win seven games like that."

The billiards tournament moved this year from the bingo hall at Sandia Casino to the roomier convention center. And for the first time, the quarterfinal matches were taped for broadcast by ESPN. That meant exposure for more players.

"It gets more faces on TV; we go deeper into the field," said Peg Ledman, the Women's Professional Billiards Association's director of operations. "There are a lot of talented players here the viewing audience never gets to see.

"A lot of players here are on the fence, and it gets them some time on TV."

"It's a good tournament this year," said Albuquerque's Ramona Biddle, who went out in the early rounds. "It's nice to get somebody new in the finals."

While the rest of the field played quarterfinal matches on Saturday, Shaw played her quarterfinal and semifinal on Sunday. That meant she played three matches Sunday under the bright TV lights.

"I was probably fortunate to have three matches," Shaw said. "I was warmed up (for the semis)."

Fisher had her own challenges last week. On Monday in Charlotte, N.C., she had a two-hour cancer surgery on the skin around her right eye. "I had eight injections in my eye," she said.

The eye looked battered Sunday night.

"I still have a stitch in the corner of my eye," she said.

On Wednesday, Fisher still had a protective patch over the eye. On Thursday, she was in Albuquerque and won her first match of the tournament.

On Sunday, she was feeling the heat, down 4-1.

"I was sitting in my seat thinking `She's playing really well,' and I was thinking that I needed to start taking my time on my shots," Fisher said.

Fisher used a strong break to come back. And that's where Shaw fell short.

"My break let me down," Shaw said.

But she was upbeat after the match, saying she felt more relaxed in Albuquerque, even if she "never felt 100 percent comfortable" in the tournament.

Shaw was able to capitalize on her opponents' mistakes, and she knocked off top players Jeanette Lee and Karen Corr.

"I was more fearless," she said.