 His third place on tiebreak in 2007 secured a place at the Chess World Cup 2007 where he scored an upset win in the first round against former FIDE World Champion and eventual quarter-finalist Ruslan Ponomariov, but he went on to lose the match after rapid tiebreaks -.A fourth-place finish in 2009 saw him qualify for the Chess World Cup 2009, going out in the first round to Ponomariov -.Second place in 2011 saw him qualify for the Chess World Cup 2011, going out in the first round to Zoltan Almasi 2-0.