In 2004 Smirnov reached the fourth round of the FIDE World Chess Championship, where he lost to Teimour Radjabov and therefore was eliminated from the competition. He knocked out in the previous rounds Lázaro Bruzón, Abobker Elarbi, and Levon Aronian. In the same year he came first in the 8th World University Chess Championship in Istanbul and in the Tigran Petrosian Memorial in Yerevan; Smirnov won the latter scoring 7.5 points out of 9, half point ahead of Vassily Ivanchuk.