Alexander Morozevich (Александр Морозе́вич) (born July 18, 1977) is a Russian chess player. In the April 2005 FIDE list, he had an ELO rating of 2717, making him number twelve in the world.
Morozevich is noted for employing unusual openings (against the Queen´s Gambit, for instance, he has often played the Chigorin Defence (1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6), a system hardly ever seen at the top level) and for his tendency to go for complicated rather than clear positions.
Among his recent 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 Olympiad (against considerably weaker opposition, for a performance rating of 2663); first place in the combined blindfold and rapid standings at the 2002 Amber tournament with 15/22, joint second with 13.5/22 in the same event in 2003 (including wins in both his games against Vladimir Kramnik), and joint first with Kramnik with 14.5/22 in that event in 2004; first place with 8/10 at Biel 2003 and with 7.5/10 in 2004; and tied for first with Peter Svidler in the 2003 Russian Championship with 7/9 (Svidler took the title with a better tie-break score).
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