Shcherbakov became a Soviet chess master in 1987, an international master in 1989, and a grandmaster in 1992. In 1990, he shared first place in the Russian Chess Championship with Andrei Kharlov, Vladimir Kramnik and Maxim Sorokin. Shcherbakov was part of the Russian team that won the gold medal at the European Senior Team Championship 2019 in the 50+ category. Also a trainer, among the players he has coached are Parimarjan Negi, Kateryna Lagno, and Dinara Saduakassova. Shcherbakov was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer in 2014.

Ruslan Shcherbakov (also spelled Sherbakov and Scherbakov; born September 14, 1969) is a Russian chess player and trainer. He holds the title of Grandmaster, which FIDE awarded him in 1992.

Shcherbakov was born on September 14, 1969 in the small town of Staraya Russa, USSR. He first learned to play chess when he was four years old, but did not begin to study the game seriously until 1980, at the age of eleven. From 1981 to 1992, he attended Alexander Panchenko’s chess school, and in 1990, he worked with Panchenko coaching the Russian team in the Soviet youth team championship. Members of this team included Vladimir Kramnik and Sergei Rublevsky.