In 1997 Morozevich was the top seed at the World Junior Chess Championship, but lost to the eventual champion, American Tal Shaked in a bishop and knight checkmate. That same year, Morozevich participated in the FIDE World Championship, where he eliminated former world champion Vassily Smyslov in the first round. He was knocked out in the second round by Lembit Oll. The next year Morozevich won the Russian Championship.