From the early 1960s to the mid-1970s, Kanko was one of Finland's leading chess players.
In Finnish Chess Championships he has won gold (1964), two silver (1965, 1968) and three bronze (1963, 1970, 1971) medals.
Ilkka Antero Kanko participated in World Chess Championship Zonal tournament (1963).
[5] In 1984, Ilkka Antero Kanko was awarded the ICCF International Correspondence Chess Master (IM) title.
This biographical article relating to a Finnish chess figure is a stub.