GMVladimir Malakhov

Vladimir Malakhov was born in Ivanovo in 1980. His father taught him chess at five, and he entered his first tournament at seven. He won the Russian under-12 championship in 1992 and the world under-14 championship in 1993. He became an international master in 1995 and a grandmaster in 1998. Both his parents were physicists, and he also worked part-time in nuclear physics.

Malakhov finished runner-up in the European Individual Championship in 2003 and 2009. His 2005 World Cup result qualified him for the 2007 Candidates matches, where Alexander Grischuk eliminated him. He shared first with Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu and Magnus Carlsen at Sarajevo in 2006. At the 2009 World Cup, he reached the semifinals after defeating opponents including Wesley So and Peter Svidler. He also became European rapid champion that year. His team achievements include World Team gold with Russia and silver at the 2010 Olympiad. He later won the blitz tournament at the 2015 Vladimir Petrov Memorial.