Person of day   -  5 MARCH 2024

MAXIM MATLAKOV

MAXIM MATLAKOV

Maxim was born in St Petersburg. At a young age, he enrolled in the famous chess school at the Anichkov Palace, where he was mentored by renowned specialists: Sergey Havksy, Alexey Yuneev and, later on, grandmaster Sergei Ivanov. The young chess player began his path in juniors’ tournaments in spectacular fashion, winning Russian youth championships U12, U14, U16, and U18 consecutively. At European and world juniors’ championships, Maxim won medals on a regular basis: in 2003 and 2005, he won bronze and in 2009 he won the U18 world championship.

Around that time, Matlakov surged ahead in adult chess, winning a well-attended St Petersburg championship and performing well at several difficult open tournaments. After graduating from high school, the young grandmaster enrolled in St Peterburg’s State University for Economy and Finance (FINEK) and he began to play for his farm-club, then for the main team of his city. With the team from the banks of the Neva, Maxim Matlakov won several medals at Russian championship and in 2012 he won silver at the team European Cup.

The young chess player from St Petersburg impressed specialists at the Premier League of the Russian championship in 2011, when he attained “+3” without losses and finished behind those who qualified for the super-final, while also plunging the favourites’- Dmitry Jakovenko’s- rating. That same year, Matlakov qualified for the final of the Russian Cup, where he advanced to the semi-final. In March 2012, Maxim handled the path of the individual European championship spectacularly, splitting 2nd-11th places. 

In 2013, at the candidates’ tournament in London, Matlakov was a second to his countryman Peter Svidler, and afterwards he won the Russian championship as a member of the St Petersburg team, along with his “boss” and another second- Nikita Vitiugov. At the Universiade in Kazan, he won silver medal with the Russian national team. The current rating of one of Russia’s most promising players has neared the 2700 mark. 

In 2015, Maxim played at a difficult open tournament in Gibraltar and then in the European championship. In 2017, Matlakov won the European Individual Championship, qualified for the Russian Championship, and became the silver medalist of the World Team Championship as a member of the Russian national team. 

Maxim Matlakov is a silver medallist of the Russian Championship Superfinal 2023, the European champion as a member of the Russian national team (2019), a many-time winner of the Russian and European Club Cups as a member of the Mednyi Vsadnik team. In December 2023, he won the SCO International Team Chess Tournament in China as a member of the Russian team.