Career
International Master and Grandmaster titles were awarded to him in 1993 and 1996 respectively. Other victories include Oakham 1993, Cannes 1996 (and 1999), Isle of Manitoba 1996 and Makarska 1997. In matchplay, he has defeated Alberto David 6-2 (+4=4) in 1999 and beat Dutch grandmaster John van der Wiel by 7-3 (+5=4-1).
In 2000, his (Cannes) match against Jeroen Piket ended in a 4-4 draw (+2=4-2).
Tkachiev admits leading a racy—if not hedonistic—lifestyle and to finding it difficult to cope with lengthy tournaments at long time controls. His passion is therefore for blitz chess and this appears also to be his real strength.
In September 2009, Tkachiev caused controversy after falling asleep during a match at an international tournament in Calcutta, India. He was reportedly intoxicated and, after passing out repeatedly during the first hour of play, was forced to forfeit the game after eleven moves on technical grounds.
Viswanathan Anand vs Vladislav Tkachiev, FIDE WCh KO 2001, Spanish Game: Morphy Defense (C78), 1/2-1/2
Alexander Morozevich vs Vladislav Tkachiev, World Cup of Rapid Chess Gp B 2001, Scotch Game: Classical, Intermezzo Variation (C45), 0-1
Evgeny East Vorobiov vs Vladislav Tkachiev, 58th Russian Championship Semi-Finals 2005, Scotch Game: Classical, Intermezzo Variation (C45), 0-1
Vladislav Tkachiev vs Maxime Vachier Lagrave, French Championships 2006, English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense.
King"s Knight Variation (A15), 1-0
On the less serious side of chess, Vladislav Tkachiev is one half of a duo, known as the "", responsible for setting up the World Chess Beauty Contest. Although the site is currently offline, viewers were able to register to see the full size images and vote for their favourites. Whilst the contest was controversial in some quarters and considered to be degrading by some female chess players, the not-too-revealing photographs were mostly sent in by the participants themselves.
A judging panel was made up of a wider selection of chess grandmasters, including Nigel Short, who along with some women players like Jennifer Shahade, supported the idea behind the venture.
Amongst the more noted chess players featured in the contest were Natalija Pogonina, Maria Manakova, Almira Skripchenko and Elisabeth Pähtz.