Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Grischuk (b. October 31, 1983) is a chess grandmaster from Russia. His FIDE rating in July 2007 was 2726, making him the world's fourteenth-ranked player. In the FIDE World Chess Championship 2000 he made it to the semi finals. In the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004 he made it to the quarter finals, where he lost 3-1 to Rustam Kasimdzhanov. He finished in the top 10 in the 2005 FIDE World Cup, which qualified him for the 2007 Candidates Tournament in May-June 2007. He won his matches against Vladimir Malakhov (+2-0=3) and Sergei Rublevsky (tied at +1-1=4, winning the rapid playoff +2-0=1), to advance to the 8 player FIDE World Chess Championship 2007 tournament. Along with being a top-level professional, Grischuk is also known as one of the best blitz chess players in the world, having once held the record for highest rating achieved on the Internet Chess Club. In 2006 he won the World Blitz Championship in Rishon Lezion, Israel with 10.5 points out of 15 games, winning 10 games.
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