A renowned Grandmaster, chess author, and successful coach, Vladimir Tukmakov celebrates his 80th birthday today.
Born in 1946 in Odessa – a city famous for its rich chess traditions – Tukmakov displayed promise from a young age, becoming a true leader of the post-WWII generation of Soviet chess talents. He quickly established himself as an excellent team player. His career first blossomed when he contributed to, and later captained, the USSR team to consecutive victories in the World Student Team Championship from 1966 to 1972, earning nine gold medals along the way.
Tukmakov earned the Grandmaster title in 1972 following strong performances in elite events. These included second-place finishes at the USSR Championships in Riga (1970), Baku (1972), and Moscow (1983), finishing behind Korchnoi, Tal, and Karpov, respectively.
In his only Olympiad appearance in 1984, he secured team gold. He also represented the USSR at the European Team Chess Championships in 1973, 1983, and 1989, collecting an impressive five gold medals (three team, two individual).
At the momentous USSR vs. Rest of the World match in London (1984), Tukmakov made a surprising but important contribution. Starting as a reserve for the Soviet team, he was twice asked to substitute for Smyslov on board 4 and once for Polugaevsky on board 3. He delivered a positive score against Ljubojević (one win, one draw) and Korchnoi (one draw).
In international tournaments, his best results include 2nd place (behind Fischer) at Buenos Aires 1970; 2nd (behind Karpov) at Madrid 1973; shared 1st (with Jansa and Ivkov) at the IBM Amsterdam Tournament 1974; 1st at Decin 1977; shared 1st (with Sax) at Las Palmas 1978; 1st at Vilnius 1978 (ahead of Tigran Petrosian); and 1st at Malta 1980. Later, he finished 2nd (behind Yusupov) at Yerevan 1982 and 2nd (behind Miles) at Tilburg 1984.
Tukmakov also won the strong Lugano Open in 1985 and the 30th Reggio Emilia Tournament in 1987/88. At the Amsterdam OHRA-B Open in 1990, he shared first place with Judit Polgár. Additionally, he won the Canadian Open Chess Championship in 1989 and 1994.
After transitioning from active play in the late 1980s, Tukmakov became a highly successful coach. He headed the Ukrainian national team starting in 2004, leading it to gold medals at the Chess Olympiads in Calvià (2004) and Khanty-Mansiysk (2010), along with multiple European and world team medals. Recognized as FIDE Trainer of the Year in 2010 and recipient of the trainer’s “Oscar,” he has mentored top players including Anatoly Karpov, Viktor Korchnoi, Anish Giri, and Wesley So.
In 2024, he received FIDE’s Best Trainer award as part of the FIDE 100 celebrations. Tukmakov has also authored bestselling chess books such as Profession: Chess Player (2010), Modern Chess Preparation (2012), and Risk and Bluff in Chess (2015), offering insights into professional chess strategy and psychology.
We wish Vladimir Tukmakov many more years of highly productive and creative work!