Alexander Morozevich
Encyclopedia
Alexander Morozevich is a Russian chess
Grandmaster. In the November 2011 FIDE
list, he had an Elo rating
of 2762, making him the 9th-highest rated player in the world, although he has previously ranked as high as second, in the July 2008 list.
Morozevich has been one of the best chess players in the world for nearly a decade. He is famous for employing unusual openings, for example the Chigorin Defense
(1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6), and more recently the Albin Countergambit
(1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5); both systems are hardly ever seen at the top level. He is also well known for preferring complicated rather than clear positions. Due to his risky and spectacular style which produces relatively few draws, Morozevich is popular among chess fans. Among his most notable results are 7.5/10 at the 2000 Chess Olympiad (winning Bronze Medal for board 2 and gaining the highest Elo performance rating at 2803.7) and 7/11 at the 2002 Chess Olympiad; first place in the overall standings at the Amber tournament in 2002, 2004 (shared with Kramnik) and 2006 (shared with Anand); first place in Biel tournament three times: 2003, 2004 and 2006; and twice
winning the Russian championship (1998 and 2007).
In 1997 Morozevich was the top seed at the World Junior Chess Championship
, but lost to the eventual champion, American Tal Shaked
in a bishop and knight checkmate
. That same year, Morozevich participated in the FIDE World Championship
knockout tournament; in the first round he eliminated the ex-world champion Smyslov, but in the second round was eliminated by Lembit Oll
.
In 1999 Morozevich played in his first super-tourney the Sarajevo Bosna and finished in fourth with 5½ points of 9.
In beginning of 2000 Morozevich participated at the Corus chess tournament
in Wijk aan Zee
and finished fifth out of 14 players. The event was won by Kasparov ahead of Kramnik, Anand
and Leko
.
In the same year he participated in the FIDE K.O. world championship played in New Delhi. Due to his rating he was seeded directly into the second round in which he eliminated Milos
with the score of 2:0, then he proceeded to beat Vladimirov 1½:½ in the third round before finally being eliminated in the fourth round by Tkachiev.
In the 2001 FIDE K.O. championship played in his native Moscow Morozevich beat Zeliavok, Sasikiran and Gurevich before losing in tie-breaks in the fourth round against the eventual winner of the event Ponomariov
.
In September 2005, Morozevich played in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005
in San Luis, taking fourth place behind Veselin Topalov
, Vishwanathan Anand and Peter Svidler
.
In December 2006, he won the strong Ciudad de Pamplona tournament with a score of 6 (of 7) and an ELO performance of 2951. He shared second place with Magnus Carlsen
behind Anand at the 2007 Linares tournament
.
His San Luis result earned him direct entry to the World Chess Championship 2007
. In that tournament he scored 6 out of 14, placing sixth out of eight players. He was the only player who managed to defeat the reigning world champion Vladimir Kramnik (which was also Kramnik's only defeat in 2007).
In December 2007 Morozevich won the Russian championship, during the tourney he scored a series of six consecutive wins, a rare event in competitions of that level.
In June 2008 Morozevich won the Bosna tournament with a margin of 1½ points ahead of second place.
In August 2008 Morozevich finished shared second-fifth in the Tal Memorial after leading the tournament in early rounds. While officially being fourth in the world, Morozevich unofficially climbed to the top spot of the world rating list, but fell back to fourth by the end of the tournament.
In June 2011 he won the Russian Higher League championship in Taganrog
with 8/11, which allowed him to take part in the Russian Championship Super Final in August 2011, in which he came second behind the eventual winner Peter Svidler.
In October 2011 he won the Saratov
Governor's Cup in Russia with 8.5/11, one and a half points ahead of the field, and a staggering 2917 performance.
he won the gold medal with the Russian team three times (1998, 2000, 2002), one silver medal (2004) and a bronze medal (1994).
He also won the gold medal in the World Team Championships
championships in 2005 in which he beat the member of the Chinese team in the last round in a must win situation. And finally he also won two gold medals in the European Team Championships (2003 and 2007).
in the world. He has confirmed that status in recent Amber blindfold tournaments where each year many of the best chess players participate:
2002 first 9/11, 2003 shared second 7/11, 2004 first 8.5/11, 2005 shared second 6/11, 2006 first 9.5/11, 2007 shared second 7/11, 2008 shared first 6/11 and in 2009 shared fourth with Anand 6.5/11.
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
Grandmaster. In the November 2011 FIDE
Fédération Internationale des Échecs
The Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation is an international organization that connects the various national chess federations around the world and acts as the governing body of international chess competition. It is usually referred to as FIDE , its French acronym.FIDE...
list, he had an Elo rating
Elo rating system
The Elo rating system is a method for calculating the relative skill levels of players in two-player games such as chess. It is named after its creator Arpad Elo, a Hungarian-born American physics professor....
of 2762, making him the 9th-highest rated player in the world, although he has previously ranked as high as second, in the July 2008 list.
Morozevich has been one of the best chess players in the world for nearly a decade. He is famous for employing unusual openings, for example the Chigorin Defense
Chigorin Defense
The Chigorin Defense is a chess opening named for 19th century Russian grandmaster Mikhail Chigorin. An uncommonly played defense to the Queen's Gambit, it begins with the moves:The Chigorin Defense is a chess opening named for 19th century Russian grandmaster Mikhail Chigorin. An uncommonly...
(1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6), and more recently the Albin Countergambit
Albin Countergambit
The Albin Countergambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves:and the usual continuation is:The opening is an uncommon defense to the Queen's Gambit. In exchange for the gambit pawn, Black has a central wedge at d4 and gets some chances for an attack...
(1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5); both systems are hardly ever seen at the top level. He is also well known for preferring complicated rather than clear positions. Due to his risky and spectacular style which produces relatively few draws, Morozevich is popular among chess fans. Among his most notable results are 7.5/10 at the 2000 Chess Olympiad (winning Bronze Medal for board 2 and gaining the highest Elo performance rating at 2803.7) and 7/11 at the 2002 Chess Olympiad; first place in the overall standings at the Amber tournament in 2002, 2004 (shared with Kramnik) and 2006 (shared with Anand); first place in Biel tournament three times: 2003, 2004 and 2006; and twice
winning the Russian championship (1998 and 2007).
Career and results
His first win in an international tournament was in 1994, when at the age of 17 he won the Lloyds Bank tournament in London with a 9½ out of 10 score. In 1994 he also won the Pamplona tournament, a victory he repeated in 1998.In 1997 Morozevich was the top seed at the World Junior Chess Championship
World Junior Chess Championship
The World Junior Chess Championship is an under-20 chess tournament organized by the World Chess Federation ....
, but lost to the eventual champion, American Tal Shaked
Tal Shaked
Tal Shaked is an American chess grandmaster, who is best known for winning the World Junior Championship in 1997....
in a bishop and knight checkmate
Bishop and knight checkmate
The bishop and knight checkmate in chess is the checkmate of a lone king which can be forced by a bishop, knight, and king. With the stronger side to move and with perfect play, checkmate can be forced in at most thirty-three moves from any starting position where the defender cannot quickly win...
. That same year, Morozevich participated in the FIDE World Championship
FIDE World Chess Championship 1999
The FIDE World Chess Championship 1999 was held in Las Vegas, United States, between 31 July and 28 August 1999. The championship was won by Russian Alexander Khalifman, making him the FIDE World Chess Champion.-Format:...
knockout tournament; in the first round he eliminated the ex-world champion Smyslov, but in the second round was eliminated by Lembit Oll
Lembit Oll
Lembit Oll was an Estonian chess grandmaster. He was already successful as a junior, becoming champion of Estonia in 1982 and junior champion of the Soviet Union in 1984. He also won multiple European and World junior championships. FIDE awarded him the IM-title in 1983 and the GM-title in 1992...
.
In 1999 Morozevich played in his first super-tourney the Sarajevo Bosna and finished in fourth with 5½ points of 9.
In beginning of 2000 Morozevich participated at the Corus chess tournament
Corus chess tournament
The Tata Steel Chess Tournament formerly called the Corus chess tournament takes place every year, usually in January, in a small town called Wijk aan Zee, part of the larger Beverwijk in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands...
in Wijk aan Zee
Wijk aan Zee
Wijk aan Zee is a small town on the coast of the North Sea in the municipality of Beverwijk in the province of North Holland of the Netherlands. The prestigious Tata Steel chess tournament formerly Corus chess tournament and before that called Hoogovens tournament takes place there every year.Due...
and finished fifth out of 14 players. The event was won by Kasparov ahead of Kramnik, Anand
Viswanathan Anand
V. Anand or Anand Viswanathan, usually referred as Viswanathan Anand, is an Indian chess Grandmaster, the current World Chess Champion, and currently second highest rated player in the world....
and Leko
Péter Lékó
On the way to winning the prestigious Corus chess tournament in 2005, Lékó defeated Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand with the black pieces. The moves were:...
.
In the same year he participated in the FIDE K.O. world championship played in New Delhi. Due to his rating he was seeded directly into the second round in which he eliminated Milos
Gilberto Milos
Gilberto Milos is a Brazilian chess player with a current Elo chess rating of 2593. He was awarded the title of International Master in 1984 and the title of Grandmaster in 1988. He was the Brazilian National Champion in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1994 and 1995...
with the score of 2:0, then he proceeded to beat Vladimirov 1½:½ in the third round before finally being eliminated in the fourth round by Tkachiev.
In the 2001 FIDE K.O. championship played in his native Moscow Morozevich beat Zeliavok, Sasikiran and Gurevich before losing in tie-breaks in the fourth round against the eventual winner of the event Ponomariov
Ruslan Ponomariov
Ruslan Olegovich Ponomariov is a Ukrainian chess player and former FIDE World Champion.-Early career:Ponomariov was born in Horlivka in Ukraine. In 1994 he placed third in the World Under-12 Championship at the age of ten. In 1996 he won the European Under-18 Championship at the age of just...
.
In September 2005, Morozevich played in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005
FIDE World Chess Championship 2005
The FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 took place in Potrero de los Funes, San Luis Province in Argentina from September 27 to October 16, 2005. It was won by Veselin Topalov.-Background:...
in San Luis, taking fourth place behind Veselin Topalov
Veselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster. He currently has the sixth highest rating in the world, and was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2010, losing the match 6½–5½....
, Vishwanathan Anand and Peter Svidler
Peter Svidler
Peter Veniaminovich Svidler is a Russian chess grandmaster.He is six-time Russian champion ....
.
In December 2006, he won the strong Ciudad de Pamplona tournament with a score of 6 (of 7) and an ELO performance of 2951. He shared second place with Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is a Norwegian chess Grandmaster and chess prodigy who is currently the number-one ranked player in the world. In January 2010 he became the seventh player ranked number one in the world on the official FIDE rating list...
behind Anand at the 2007 Linares tournament
Linares chess tournament
The Linares International Chess Tournament , is an annual chess tournament, usually played around the end of February, takes its name from the city of Linares in the Jaén province of Andalusia, Spain, in which it is held...
.
His San Luis result earned him direct entry to the World Chess Championship 2007
World Chess Championship 2007
The World Chess Championship 2007 was held in Mexico City, from September 12, 2007 to September 30, 2007 to decide the world champion in the board game chess. It was an eight-player, double round robin tournament....
. In that tournament he scored 6 out of 14, placing sixth out of eight players. He was the only player who managed to defeat the reigning world champion Vladimir Kramnik (which was also Kramnik's only defeat in 2007).
In December 2007 Morozevich won the Russian championship, during the tourney he scored a series of six consecutive wins, a rare event in competitions of that level.
In June 2008 Morozevich won the Bosna tournament with a margin of 1½ points ahead of second place.
In August 2008 Morozevich finished shared second-fifth in the Tal Memorial after leading the tournament in early rounds. While officially being fourth in the world, Morozevich unofficially climbed to the top spot of the world rating list, but fell back to fourth by the end of the tournament.
In June 2011 he won the Russian Higher League championship in Taganrog
Taganrog
Taganrog is a seaport city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, located on the north shore of Taganrog Bay , several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population: -History of Taganrog:...
with 8/11, which allowed him to take part in the Russian Championship Super Final in August 2011, in which he came second behind the eventual winner Peter Svidler.
In October 2011 he won the Saratov
Saratov
-Modern Saratov:The Saratov region is highly industrialized, due in part to the rich in natural and industrial resources of the area. The region is also one of the more important and largest cultural and scientific centres in Russia...
Governor's Cup in Russia with 8.5/11, one and a half points ahead of the field, and a staggering 2917 performance.
Team competitions
Morozevich had great successes in team competitions: in the Chess OlympiadChess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
he won the gold medal with the Russian team three times (1998, 2000, 2002), one silver medal (2004) and a bronze medal (1994).
He also won the gold medal in the World Team Championships
World Team Chess Championship
The World Team Chess Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of 10 countries whose chess federations dominate their continent.-Men's team medals:-Women's team medals:-References:*...
championships in 2005 in which he beat the member of the Chinese team in the last round in a must win situation. And finally he also won two gold medals in the European Team Championships (2003 and 2007).
Blindfold chess
Morozevich is considered to be one of the best blindfold chess playersBlindfold chess
Blindfold chess is a form of chess play wherein the players do not see the positions of the pieces or touch them. This forces players to maintain a mental model of the positions of the pieces...
in the world. He has confirmed that status in recent Amber blindfold tournaments where each year many of the best chess players participate:
2002 first 9/11, 2003 shared second 7/11, 2004 first 8.5/11, 2005 shared second 6/11, 2006 first 9.5/11, 2007 shared second 7/11, 2008 shared first 6/11 and in 2009 shared fourth with Anand 6.5/11.
Books and Publications
In 2007, Morozevich published, along with co-author Vladimir Barsky, a book about the Chigorin Defence. It is entitled: The Chigorin Defense according to Morozevich.External links
- Alexander Morozevich Morozevich Digest (official website; has Russian and English versions)
- Alexander Morozevich download 419 of his games in pgn format.