 His victory included a rapid play-off win against Laurent Fressinet.In 2007, he won the European Individual Chess Championship, held in Dresden, following a play-off with GMs Emil Sutovsky, Dmitry Jakovenko and Ivan Cheparinov.He also reached the semi-finals of the Russian Chess Championship in 2005 and won the Moscow Blitz Superfinal in 2004, ahead of Alexander Morozevich.