Vadim Malakhatko

Vadim Volodymyrovych Malakhatko (Вадим Володимирович Малахатько; 22 March 1977 – 5 June 2023) was a Ukrainian (until 2007) and Belgian (from 2007) chess grandmaster. He was a member of the gold medal-winning Ukrainian team at the 2001 World Team Chess Championship. In 2000, he won with the Ukrainian team a bronze medal in the 34th Chess Olympiad in Istanbul.

Malakhatko died in Kyiv of a heart attack on 5 June 2023, at the age of 46.

Chess career

 * 1999 – came second at Alushta tournament
 * 2004 – tied for first with Petar Genov in the 3rd Condom Chess Open
 * 2006 – won Politiken Cup in Copenhagen
 * 2007 – tied for 2nd–4th with Loek van Wely and Alexei Fedorov in the President's Cup in Baku
 * 2007 – tied for 2nd–7th with Kiril Georgiev, Dimitrios Mastrovasilis, Mircea Pârligras, Hristos Banikas and Dmitry Svetushkin in the Acropolis International Chess Tournament
 * 2007/08 – tied for first with Nidjat Mamedov and Valeriy Neverov in the Hastings International Chess Congress
 * 2009 – came in first at the Arcapita Open in Bahrain
 * 2009 – tied for 2nd–3rd with Edvīns Ķeņģis at the Al Saleh 8th International Open in Yemen
 * 2009 – tied for 3rd–8th with Anton Filippov, Elshan Moradiabadi, Merab Gagunashvili, Alexander Shabalov and Niaz Murshed in the Ravana Challenge Tournament in Colombo
 * 2010 – tied for 1st–3rd with Tigran Gharamian and Deep Sengupta at the 24th Open Pierre and Vacances
 * 2011 – won the 8th edition of the Balagna Open in Corsica
 * 2019 – tied for 2nd–3rd with Liu Zhaoqi at the 2nd Ferreira do Alentejo Open

On the May 2011 FIDE Elo rating list, Malakhatko had a rating of 2546. His handle on the Internet Chess Club was "Vadim77".

Personal life
He was married to WGM Anna Zozulia.

Notable games

 * Vadim Malakhatko vs Bogdan Lalic, 83rd Hastings Chess Congress 2008, Queen's Gambit Accepted: Gunsberg Defense, Prianishenmo Gambit (D24), 1–0
 * Vadim Malakhatko vs Jonathan Speelman, Isle of Man 2007, Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Petrosian Attack (E12), 1–0
 * Vadim Malakhatko vs John K Shaw, Cappelle la Grande 2007, Slav Defense: General (D10), 1–0