Varuzhan Akobian
Varuzhan Akobian | |
|---|---|
 Akobian in 2023 | |
| Country | Armenia (until 2002) United States (since 2002) |
| Born | 19 November 1983 Yerevan, Armenian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Title | Grandmaster (2004) |
| FIDE rating | 2551 (June 2025) |
| Peak rating | 2673 (June 2017) |
| Peak ranking | No. 76 (June 2017) |
Varuzhan Akobian (Armenian: Վարուժան Հակոբյան, born 19 November 1983 in Yerevan, Soviet Union) is an Armenian-born American chess Grandmaster. Originally from Armenia, he now resides in St. Louis. He played on the bronze medal-winning U.S. team in the 2006 and 2008 Chess Olympiads.[1]
Chess career
[edit]Akobian, an Armenian-American, became an International Master at age 16. In 2001, he moved to the United States and one week after his 20th birthday in November 2003, earned the title of Grandmaster.
He won the World Open in Philadelphia on three separate occasions; he shared first place in 2002 and won it outright in 2004 and 2007. In 2006 he tied for first in the San Marino tournament with a performance rating of 2796.[2] In 2007, he tied for 1st–8th with Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Shabalov, Darmen Sadvakasov, Zviad Izoria, Victor Mikhalevski, Magesh Chandran Panchanathan and Justin Sarkar in the Miami Open[3] and came equal first in the American Continental Championship in Cali, Colombia.[4] This qualified him for the 2007 World Cup, where he was eliminated in the first round by Michael Roiz. He also took part in the 2009 World Cup, where he defeated Pavel Tregubov in the first round in a 16-game match, before being knocked out in the second round by Ruslan Ponomariov.[5]
In 2007, Akobian was featured on MTV's True Life documentary series, in an episode titled "I'm a Genius".[6]
In May 2014, he was the fifth highest-rated player in the US, with a FIDE rating of 2643.[7] In the 2014 U.S. Championship, he tied for first place with Gata Kamsky and Aleksandr Lenderman. This tie led to a three-player playoff to decide the champion. Akobian defeated Lenderman in an Armageddon Game and advanced to the playoff final, a rapid match against Kamsky, in which Kamsky won 1.5-0.5 to win the championship.[8]
Akobian currently serves as assistant coach for the Saint Louis University chess team.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ Varuzhan Akobian player profile and games at Chessgames.com
- ^ THE WEEK IN CHESS 606 19 June 2006
- ^ Crowther, Mark (1 October 2007). "TWIC 673: Miami Chess Open". London Chess Center. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
- ^ THE WEEK IN CHESS 663 23 July 2007
- ^ Crowther, Mark (15 December 2009). "The Week in Chess: FIDE World Cup Mini-Site 2009". Chess.co.uk. Archived from the original on 20 October 2011. Retrieved 16 December 2011.
- ^ "True Life" I'm a Genius (2007), IMDb [unreliable source?]
- ^ "May 2014: Standard rating". FIDE.
- ^ U.S. Chess Championship Official Site
- ^ "SLU Chess Team Player Profiles". Saint Louis University. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
External links
[edit]
- Official website
- Varuzhan Akobian rating card at FIDE
- Varuzhan Akobian rating and tournament record at US Chess Federation
- Varuzhan Akobian player profile and games at Chessgames.com
- Grandmaster Games Database - Varuzhan Akobian at redhotpawn.com
