James Morris | |
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![]() James Morris at the 2009 Oceania Chess Championship | |
Country | ![]() |
Born | Melbourne, Australia | April 22, 1994
Title | International Master (2010) |
FIDE rating | 2431 (June 2024) 2366 (Jul 2014) |
Peak rating | 2406 (Apr 2013) |
James A. Morris (born April 22, 1994 in Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian chess International Master.[1] He has won, or jointly won, the Australasian Masters international chess tournament twice.
Morris was awarded the FIDE Master (FM) title after scoring 5/9 in the 2007 Oceania Zonal Chess Championship in Nadi, Fiji.[2] In 2009 he scored 6.5/9 in the Oceania Zonal Chess Championship on the Gold Coast, Queensland and finished equal second behind GM David Smerdon, to gain the International Master (IM) title.[3][4][5]
In 2011 Morris won the Ballarat Begonia Open with a score of 6.5/7,[6][7] and the Victorian Junior Championship with a perfect score of 9/9. Morris also won the 2011 Australasian Masters ahead of Bobby Cheng, scoring 7.5/9. He won an additional game in the tournament against IM Mirko Rujevic who later withdrew from the event. When this result is included, his performance rating was 2529.[8]
In 2012 Morris repeated his feat of winning the Victorian Junior Championship with a perfect score of 9/9,[9] came equal first in the Victorian Open with a score of 6/7,[10] and won the Victorian Championship with a score of 9.5/11.[11] Morris came equal first in the 2012 Australasian Masters with Bobby Cheng and Anton Smirnov, scoring 6/9.[12][13]
In 2013, Morris again won the Ballarat Begonia Open, winning the event with a perfect score of 7/7 including a win against IM Stephen Solomon.[14] During his return from the 2013 Doeberl Cup open in Canberra, where he had scored 5/9, Morris was seriously injured in a fatal car accident which resulted in the death of two fellow Melbourne Chess Club players.[15][16] Morris made a speedy recovery and returned to tournament chess in late August 2013, playing in the Victorian Open Rapid Play Championship where he finished third.[17] Morris score a career-best victory at the Australian Young Masters tournament in Adelaide in December 2013.