Vladimir Tukmakov
Encyclopedia
Vladimir Borisovich Tukmakov (born March 5, 1946 in Odessa
) is a Jewish-Ukrainian chess
grandmaster. He gained the Grandmaster title in 1972.
His career first blossomed when he helped and then led the USSR to consecutive wins of the World Student Team Championship from 1966 to 1972, bagging nine gold medals along the way.
In the 1970s and 1980s he progressed to the senior Soviet Russian team and was again on the multiple gold medal winning trail. In his only Olympiad
appearance in 1984 he took team gold and in 1973, 1983 and 1989 he played in the European Team Championship
, where his collective haul was an amazing 5 (three team and two individual) gold medals.
In international tournaments, his best results include second place (after Fischer
) at Buenos Aires 1970, 2nd (after Karpov
) at Madrid 1973, 1st= (with Jansa
and Ivkov
) at Amsterdam 1974, 1st at Decin 1977, 1st= (with Sax
) at Las Palmas 1978, 1st at Vilnius 1978 and 1st at Malta 1980. At Yerevan 1982, he was 2nd (after Yusupov
), at Tilburg 1984, 2nd= (after Miles). He won the Reggio Emilia tournament
1987/88 and at Amsterdam (GM) 1990, shared first place with Judit Polgár
. He won the Canadian Open Chess Championship
in 1989 and 1994.
At the Gijon (active) tournament of 1988, he showed he was a fine player of rapid chess too, finishing joint first with Anatoly Karpov
.
Of his many attempts to become Soviet champion he came very close on three occasions; at Riga 1970, Baku 1972 and at Moscow 1983, where he finished behind Korchnoi
, Tal
and Karpov
respectively. He was however the national champion of Ukraine
in 1970.
At the momentous London 1984 Russia (USSR) vs Rest of the World
clash, he made a surprising, but important contribution. Starting as a lowly reserve for the USSR team, he was asked to substitute for Smyslov
on board 4 and then for Polugaevsky
on board 3. The outcome was that he delivered the team a useful net plus score against Ljubojevic
and Korchnoi.
Much less active as a player nowadays, Tukmakov nevertheless retains a competitive Elo rating (2551, at October 2007). Competing at the very strong Odessa rapid tournament of 2007, he got off to a flying start, drawing with Korchnoi and defeating the highly rated Smirin
and Bacrot
. Sadly, tiredness then took over and he lost the remainder of his games.
He was non-playing captain with the victorious Ukraine team at the 36th Chess Olympiad
in Calvià (2004). In the same year he was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer.
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
) is a Jewish-Ukrainian chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
grandmaster. He gained the Grandmaster title in 1972.
His career first blossomed when he helped and then led the USSR to consecutive wins of the World Student Team Championship from 1966 to 1972, bagging nine gold medals along the way.
In the 1970s and 1980s he progressed to the senior Soviet Russian team and was again on the multiple gold medal winning trail. In his only Olympiad
Chess Olympiad
The Chess Olympiad is a biennial chess tournament in which teams from all over the world compete against each other. The event is organised by FIDE, which selects the host nation.-Birth of the Olympiad:The first Olympiad was unofficial...
appearance in 1984 he took team gold and in 1973, 1983 and 1989 he played in the European Team Championship
European Team Championship
The European Team Championship is an international team chess event, eligible for the participation of European nations whose chess federations are located in zones 1.1 to 1.9...
, where his collective haul was an amazing 5 (three team and two individual) gold medals.
In international tournaments, his best results include second place (after Fischer
Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author...
) at Buenos Aires 1970, 2nd (after Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
) at Madrid 1973, 1st= (with Jansa
Vlastimil Jansa
Vlastimil Jansa is a Chess Grandmaster from the Czech Republic .He learned chess while in hospital at the age of eight and at fourteen, became the youth champion of Prague. In 1959, he finished second in the Czechoslovak national junior championship...
and Ivkov
Borislav Ivkov
Borislav Ivkov is a Serbian chess Grandmaster. He was the first ever World Junior Champion in 1951. He won the Yugoslav Championship in 1958 , 1963 and 1972. He was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal tournaments, in 1967, 1970, 1973, and 1979...
) at Amsterdam 1974, 1st at Decin 1977, 1st= (with Sax
Gyula Sax
Gyula Sax is a Hungarian chess player and International Arbiter , born in Budapest.He was awarded the IM title in 1972 and the GM title in 1974. He was the Hungarian Chess Champion in 1976 and 1977 . In 1971-72, he was the European Junior Champion, and he placed first at Rovinj-Zagreb 1975,...
) at Las Palmas 1978, 1st at Vilnius 1978 and 1st at Malta 1980. At Yerevan 1982, he was 2nd (after Yusupov
Artur Yusupov
Artur Mayakovich Yusupov is a German International Grandmaster of chess, and a chess writer.-Chess career:...
), at Tilburg 1984, 2nd= (after Miles). He won the Reggio Emilia tournament
Reggio Emilia chess tournament
The Reggio Emilia chess tournament is a chess tournament played in Reggio Emilia, Italy. In Italian the tournament is called Torneo di Capodanno , as it starts just after Christmas and ends on the day of Epiphany...
1987/88 and at Amsterdam (GM) 1990, shared first place with Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.Polgár was ranked No...
. He won the Canadian Open Chess Championship
Canadian Open Chess Championship
The Canadian Open Chess Championship is Canada's Open chess championship, first held in 1956, and held annually since 1973, usually in mid-summer. It is organized by the Chess Federation of Canada....
in 1989 and 1994.
At the Gijon (active) tournament of 1988, he showed he was a fine player of rapid chess too, finishing joint first with Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
.
Of his many attempts to become Soviet champion he came very close on three occasions; at Riga 1970, Baku 1972 and at Moscow 1983, where he finished behind Korchnoi
Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi ; pronounced in the original Russian as "karch NOY"; Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й, born March 23, 1931 is a professional chess player, author and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the tournament circuit...
, Tal
Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal was a Soviet–Latvian chess player, a Grandmaster, and the eighth World Chess Champion.Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played a daring, combinatorial style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability....
and Karpov
Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once...
respectively. He was however the national champion of Ukraine
Ukrainian Chess Championship
This is a list of all the winners of the Ukrainian Chess Championship, including those held when Ukraine was a Soviet republic and those held after Ukraine became independent. Players' names listed in parentheses indicate that the player won the tournament but did not receive the title since he...
in 1970.
At the momentous London 1984 Russia (USSR) vs Rest of the World
Russia (USSR) vs Rest of the World
There have been two chess matches featuring USSR vs. Rest of the World and 1 match Russia vs. Rest of the World. The first two matches were between a team from the USSR and a team of players from the "rest of the world"...
clash, he made a surprising, but important contribution. Starting as a lowly reserve for the USSR team, he was asked to substitute for Smyslov
Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions . Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship , and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won...
on board 4 and then for Polugaevsky
Lev Polugaevsky
Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky was an International Grandmaster of chess and frequent contender for the world chess championship, although he never achieved that title...
on board 3. The outcome was that he delivered the team a useful net plus score against Ljubojevic
Ljubomir Ljubojevic
Ljubomir Ljubojević is a Grandmaster of chess. He was born on November 2, 1950, in Titovo Užice, Yugoslavia . Ljubojević was awarded the International Master title in 1970 and the GM title in 1971. He was Yugoslav champion in 1977 and 1982. He won the 1974 Canadian Open Chess Championship...
and Korchnoi.
Much less active as a player nowadays, Tukmakov nevertheless retains a competitive Elo rating (2551, at October 2007). Competing at the very strong Odessa rapid tournament of 2007, he got off to a flying start, drawing with Korchnoi and defeating the highly rated Smirin
Ilya Smirin
Ilya Yulievich Smirin is a Soviet-Israeli chess Grandmaster., his Elo rating was 2650, making him the 59th-highest rated player in the world...
and Bacrot
Étienne Bacrot
Étienne Bacrot is a French chess grandmaster and currently ranked number one in France.He started playing at 4; by 10 young Bacrot was already winning junior competitions and in 1996, at 13 years of age, he won against Vasily Smyslov...
. Sadly, tiredness then took over and he lost the remainder of his games.
He was non-playing captain with the victorious Ukraine team at the 36th Chess Olympiad
36th Chess Olympiad
The 36th Chess Olympiad, organized by the Fédération Internationale des Échecs and comprising an open and women's tournament, as well as several events designed to promote the game of chess, took place between October 14 and October 31, 2004, in Calvià on the Spanish island of Majorca.-Chess...
in Calvià (2004). In the same year he was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer.