In Wijk aan Zee 2001 Morozevich became the first player to defeat World Champion Vladimir Kramnik after beating him with black. He shared fifth together with Alexei Shirov, behind Kasparov, Anand, Vassily Ivanchuk and Kramnik. In the 2001 FIDE World Championship, Morozevich beat Nugzar Zeliavok, Krishnan Sasikiran and Mikhail Gurevich before losing in tie-breaks in the fourth round against the eventual winner of the event Ruslan Ponomariov. In September 2005, Morozevich played in the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005 in San Luis, Argentina, taking fourth place behind Veselin Topalov, Anand and Peter Svidler.