Armenian chess grandmaster (born 1971)
Vladimir Akopian
(
Russian
:
Владимир Акопян
,
Armenian
:
???????? ????????
; born December 7, 1971) is an
Armenian
-
American
chess
Grandmaster
.
Career
[
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]
Akopian was born in
Baku
,
Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic
,
Soviet Union
. He won the
World Under-16 Championship
in 1986 at the age of 14 and the
World Under-18 Championship
at 16. In 1991 he won the
World Junior Chess Championship
.
[2]
He won the
Armenian Chess Championship
in 1996 and 1997.
[3]
In 1999 he made his way through to the final of the
FIDE knockout World Chess Championship
, but lost to
Alexander Khalifman
by 3.5-2.5.
[4]
At the Russia vs the Rest of the World 2002, Akopian defeated
FIDE
#1 ranked
Garry Kasparov
in 25 moves in the final eighth round.
[5]
Akopian defeated World Champion
Vladimir Kramnik
in the first round of the
Corus chess tournament
2004 and was in the lead for the beginning of the tournament.
[6]
He finished the contest in tenth place.
[7]
He made it to the quarterfinals in the
FIDE World Chess Championship 2004
, where he lost to eventual tournament runner-up
Michael Adams
.
In 2005 he tied for 1st?5th with
Emil Sutovsky
,
Andrei Kharlov
,
Vassily Ivanchuk
and
Alexander Motylev
at the
Aeroflot Open
in
Moscow
. Akopian had a score of 6.5 at the
Aeroflot Open
2005 and took part in a five-way tie. After the tiebreaker, he came in fifth.
[8]
It was reported that Akopian had to withdraw from the 2005 Dubai Open when he was arrested at Dubai airport having been mistaken for an individual of the same name wanted by
Interpol
for murder.
[9]
Early in 2007, Akopian won the
Gibtelecom Masters
in
Gibraltar
with a score of 7.5/9 ahead of a group of players tied at 7/9 including
Michael Adams
.
[10]
Akopian came in third place at the Fourth FIDE Grand Prix in April 2009 with a score of 7.5/13, one point behind compatriot
Levon Aronian
. He lost to
Peter Leko
, who had the same score, in a tiebreaker.
[11]
In December 2009, he was awarded the title of "Honoured Master of Sport of the Republic of Armenia".
[12]
On the May 2013
FIDE
list, he has an
Elo rating
of 2705, making him number 39 in the world and Armenia's number two player, behind
Levon Aronian
.
In 2021, Akopian switched federations to represent the United States of America.
[1]
Team competitions
[
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]
The Armenia national chess team made its
Chess Olympiad
debut at the
30th Chess Olympiad
in 1992 and won bronze. Akopian played on board two for the Olympiad, behind
Rafael Vaganian
.
[13]
Akopian was one of the contributing players on the Armenian chess team which won gold at the
2006 Chess Olympiad
ahead of second placed
China
and third placed
United States
.
[14]
Akopian played on board two for the Olympiad.
[15]
Akopian won the
38th Chess Olympiad
in
Dresden
(2008) with the Armenia national Chess team, winning gold for the second time in a row at a Chess Olympiad.
[16]
[17]
Armenian President
Serzh Sargsyan
attended the Olympiad to support the team. After the Olympiad, they flew back to Armenia with him on the presidential plane, Air Force Armenia One.
[18]
Armenia and Akopian regained their Olympiad title at the
40th Chess Olympiad
(2012). This was the third time Armenia won gold at the Olympiad. Akopian played on board two at the previous two and board three for the latest. As the players were awarded their gold medals, the Armenian national anthem
Mer Hayrenik
was played and the Armenian flag was raised in Istanbul.
Levon Aronian
was holding an Armenian flag up as he and his team were standing on the first place podium.
[19]
[20]
Upon returning to Yerevan, the players were welcomed back with a ceremony by many people in the city the moment their airplane touched down in
Zvartnots Airport
.
[21]
Akopian revealed after the 40th Olympiad that he is unsure if he will ever compete at the Chess Olympiads again.
[22]
He was a member of the gold medal-winning Armenian team at the
World Team Chess Championship
in 2011. It was the first time that the Armenian team won this tournament. Akopian played on board three.
[23]
Notable games
[
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]
- Vladimir Akopian vs Kiril D Georgiev, Ch World FIDE, Las Vegas (USA) 1999, Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov-Petrosian Variation, Romanishin Attack (E12), 1-0
- Junior (Computer) vs Vladimir Akopian, SuperGM 2000, Owen Defense: General (B00), 1/2-1/2
- Vladimir Akopian vs Garry Kasparov, Russia vs The Rest of the World 2002, Sicilian Defense: Nyezhmetdinov-Rossolimo Attack (B30), 1-0
- Alexey Korotylev vs Vladimir Akopian, Aeroflot Open 2006, Benoni Defense: Classical Variation, General (A70), 0-1
References
[
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]
External links
[
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]
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Chess players for the United States with the
FIDE title
of grandmaster (GM) by title decade
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1950?1959
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1960?1969
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1970?1979
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1980?1989
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1990?1999
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2000?2009
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2010?2019
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2020?2029
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