Vladimir Baklan is a Ukrainian chess Grandmaster, an accomplished chess coach and author. Born on February 25, 1978 in Mariupol, Ukraine, he achieved the prestigious Grandmaster title in 1997. As for his individual accomplishments, Baklan won the European Junior Chess Championship in 1997 and the European Individual Chess Championship in 2008. He also won the Ukrainian Chess Championship twice - in 1998 and 2013.
In team events, Baklan represented Ukraine in five Chess Olympiads from 2000 to 2008, winning team bronze at the 36th Chess Olympiad and team gold in the 37th Chess Olympiad. He also won bronze, silver, and gold team medals at the European Team Chess Championships in 2001, 2005, and 2004 respectively. As part of the national team, he twice won the World Team Chess Championship, in 2001 and 2010.
As a chess coach, Baklan was part of the Ukrainian women's team at the Chess Olympiad in 2012 and the European Team Chess Championship in 2013. He has been the head coach of the national women's team since 2016. In 2018, he was appointed as the head coach of the Ukrainian youth chess team.
As an author, Baklan has written two books on chess strategies and tactics.