 In 2001, he won the Russian Chess Championship and played for the national team in the World Team Chess Championship, where he contributed to the team silver medal scoring 2/3.In 2002, he was invited to take part in the Russia vs Rest of the World match in Moscow and, in the company of the world's elite players, scored 1/6.In 2003, he won the Corsican Open at Bastia, ahead of a strong field including Loek van Wely, Krishnan Sasikiran and Sergei Tiviakov.