GMSergei Azarov

Sergei Azarov was born in Minsk in 1983. He won the Belarusian championship in his home city in both 2001 and 2002. He shared first in the Hastings Challengers tournament in 2002, then became a grandmaster in 2003. That year he finished runner-up to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov at the World Junior Championship. His later tournament victories included Istanbul in 2006 and Béthune in 2009. At the 2011 World Cup he defeated Artyom Timofeev before losing to Vugar Gashimov. He qualified for the 2013 World Cup through his result at the 2012 European Championship.