Tamara was born in
Uchqoʻrgʻon,
Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic, on September 19, 1943. She started studying chess at 12 under A. Shagalovich (
Minsk). Although she graduated from
Belarusian Polytechnic Institute in 1965, she left the engineering career for chess. Since 1970 she has been the Chief Chess Coach of Minsk Children's Sports School of Olympic Reserve N 11. She won
Belarusian Women Chess Championship three times (1965, 1969 and 1976) and was a multiple finalist of the
USSR Women's Chess Championships. From 1989 she became an International Arbiter. She was Chief Arbiter of many international tournaments. Since 1999 Tamara has lived in the USA. She took third place together with Albert Chow (FIDE Master, USCF 2294) in 2000 Illinois Open Chess Championship and fourth in 2001 Illinois Open among men. She successfully continues to prepare children in Chicago for tournament play. == Coach ==