Alexander Morozevich facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Alexander Morozevich |
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Morozevich in 2008
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| Full name | Alexander Sergeyevich Morozevich |
| Country | Russia |
| Born | July 18, 1977 Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Title | Grandmaster (1994) |
| FIDE rating | 2659 (June 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2788 (July 2008) |
| Peak ranking | No. 2 (July 2008) |
Alexander Morozevich (born July 18, 1977) is a famous chess player from Russia. He became a Grandmaster, which is the highest title in chess, in 1994. Alexander Morozevich is known for his exciting and unusual way of playing chess.
He has been a candidate for the World Chess Championship twice (in 2005 and 2007). He also won the Russian Championship two times. Morozevich has played for Russia in seven Chess Olympiads, winning many medals for his team and for his individual performance. In July 2008, he reached his highest ranking, becoming the second-best chess player in the world.
He has won several big tournaments multiple times, like the Melody Amber tournament (alone in 2002, and shared in 2004, 2006, 2008) and the Biel tournament (2003, 2004, 2006).
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Chess Career Highlights
Alexander Morozevich started winning big tournaments when he was young. His first international win was in 1994. He was only 17 years old when he won the Lloyds Bank tournament in London. He scored an amazing 9½ points out of 10! He also won the Pamplona tournament that year, and again in 1998.
In 1997, Morozevich was a top player at the World Junior Chess Championship. He also played in the FIDE World Championship. There, he beat former world champion Vassily Smyslov in the first round. The next year, Morozevich won the Russian Chess Championship.
In 1999, he played in his first "super-tournament" in Sarajevo. In 2000, he played at the Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee. He finished fifth among 14 strong players. This tournament was won by the legendary Garry Kasparov.
Later in 2000, he played in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2000 in New Delhi. He won several matches before being knocked out in the fourth round.
In 2001, at Wijk aan Zee, Morozevich made history. He was the first player to defeat the World Champion Vladimir Kramnik with the black pieces. In the 2001 FIDE World Championship, he had a great run. He won against several strong players before losing in a close match to the eventual winner, Ruslan Ponomariov.
In September 2005, Morozevich played in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 in San Luis, Argentina. He finished in fourth place, which was a very strong result.
In December 2006, he won the strong Pamplona tournament again. He scored 6 points out of 7. This win showed his amazing skill. In 2007, he shared second place at the Linares tournament.
His good performance in San Luis helped him get a direct spot in the World Chess Championship 2007. In this tournament, he was the only player who managed to beat the reigning world champion, Vladimir Kramnik. This was Kramnik's only loss in 2007!
In December 2007, Morozevich won the Russian Championship for the second time. He won his last six games in a row to secure the title. In June 2008, he won the Bosna tournament in Sarajevo. Two months later, he shared second place in the Tal Memorial. For a short time, he was unofficially the top-ranked player in the world.
In June 2011, he won the Russian Championship Higher League. This earned him a spot in the Superfinal, where he finished second. In October, Morozevich won the Saratov Governor's Cup in Russia. He finished one and a half points ahead of everyone else.
In February 2012, Morozevich won the Vladimir Petrov Memorial. This was a rapidplay tournament, meaning games were played quickly. In 2014, he won the 15th Karpov International tournament. In 2015, Morozevich won the Magistral Ciutat de Barcelona tournament.
Team Successes
Alexander Morozevich has also been very successful in team chess events.
- He won the gold medal with the Russian team three times at the Chess Olympiad (1998, 2000, 2002).
- He also won a silver medal (2004) and a bronze medal (1994) at the Olympiads.
- In 2005, he won a gold medal at the World Team Chess Championship.
- He won two gold medals at the European Team Chess Championship (2003 and 2007).
Morozevich's Playing Style
Morozevich is known for his exciting and aggressive way of playing chess. He often uses unusual ways to start his games, called "unorthodox openings." For example, he sometimes plays the Chigorin Defense or the Albin Countergambit.
He loves to play in positions that are very complicated. This makes his games exciting to watch. Because of his risky and spectacular style, he doesn't have many drawn games. This makes him very popular with chess fans around the world.
In 2007, Morozevich wrote a book about the Chigorin Defense with Vladimir Barsky. The book is called The Chigorin Defence According to Morozevich.
Blindfold Chess Skills
Alexander Morozevich is considered one of the best blindfold chess players in the world. In blindfold chess, players do not look at the board or pieces. They remember everything in their mind! He showed his amazing skill in the blindfold sections of the Melody Amber tournaments:
- In 2002, he finished first.
- In 2003, he shared second place.
- In 2004, he finished first again.
- In 2005, he shared second place.
- In 2006, he finished first with a very high score.
- In 2007, he shared second place.
- In 2008, he shared first place.
- In 2009, he shared fourth place.
Beyond Chess: Playing Go
In recent years, Alexander Morozevich has not played as much competitive chess. Instead, he has taken up another strategy game called Go. Go is an ancient board game from Asia. As of 2018, he has a Go ranking of 1 dan, which is a good level.
In July 2016, he even played a special match against another chess player, Tiger Hillarp Persson. This match included both chess and Go games!
See also
In Spanish: Aleksandr Morozévich para niños
