Dmitry Jakovenko is a Russian chess Grandmaster who was born in 1983 in Omsk and is among the world’s top players. He earned the title of Grandmaster in 2001 after being awarded the international master title the previous year. Jakovenko graduated from the Russian State Social University and also holds a degree in economics.
Some of his notable achievements include winning the 2001 Russian Junior Chess Championship and coming out on top in the Russian Central Chess Club's Petrosian Memorial tournament in 2004. In January 2009, he entered the top 10 of the FIDE world rankings and reached the highest place of his career (5) in November 2009.
In May 2011, Jakovenko won the 12th Karpov International Tournament in Poikovsky, Russia. In 2014, he tied for first in the Russian Championship Superfinal. In 2015, he won the World Team Chess Championship with the Russian team. He also won the 17th Poikovsky Karpov tournament in 2016.
Jakovenko has regularly competed in the Chess World Cup, advancing to the second round in 2005 and the third round in 2007 and 2009. He reached the quarterfinals in 2015 before losing to Hikaru Nakamura. He also played in the FIDE Grand Prix series several times, his best result coming in 2008 when he finished third in the overall standings.
On several occasions, Jakovenko has assisted former World Chess Championship title holder Viswanathan Anand in preparing for his World Championship matches. He was awarded the Order of Friendship in 2011 for his contributions to chess development in Russia.