[6] He was the German Democratic Republic's (GDR) most outstanding player at the Chess Olympiads of 1956–1990, where he made 11 appearances, mostly on top board.

At the 1964 event in Tel Aviv, Israel he scored a combined 15 points out of 18,[7] earning him the individual board one gold medal.

[9][10] In 1964, Uhlmann shared victory with Lev Polugaevsky at a tournament in Sarajevo[11] and tied for first with former World Champion Vasily Smyslov at the Capablanca Memorial.

[15] At Raach in 1969, a zonal tournament, he finished two points clear of a field which included Lajos Portisch,[16] giving him access to the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal.

[16] His most successful attempt at World Championship qualification occurred at the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal of 1970, where he came sixth[17] and reached the Candidates Matches the following year.

The match featured three games in the French Defense, Tarrasch Variation and Larsen playing the uncommon King's Fianchetto Opening.

The other Old Hands were Oleg Romanishin, Vlastimil Hort, and Friðrik Ólafsson, while the women were Tania Sachdev, Alina Kashlinskaya, Valentina Gunina, and Kristýna Havlíková [cs].

[23] ChessBase described the round 8 game Kashlinskaya–Uhlmann as the most beautiful of the event, with Uhlmann's play evoking the style of the young Mikhail Tal.

He was 85, and had entered hospital following a fall; he had, however, been sick for much of his life from complications resulting from his childhood tuberculosis.

Ne4 (see diagram; "Black now sacrifices a piece to establish a fatal pin on the long light-square diagonal.