| Vladimir Akopian | |
|---|---|
| Full name | Վլադիմիր Հակոբյան |
| Country | Armenia |
| Born | December 7, 1971 Baku, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR |
| Title | Grandmaster (1991) |
| FIDE rating | 2667 (No. 81 on the July 2011 FIDE ratings list) |
| Peak rating | 2713 (July 2006) |
Vladimir Akopian (Russian: Владимир Акопян; born December 7, 1971 in Baku, Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR) is a leading Armenian chess Grandmaster. In Armenia, his surname is more commonly written Hakobyan (Armenian: Վլադիմիր Հակոբյան) however, most English texts and FIDE use a transliteration of the Russian version.
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Akopian 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.[1]
He won the Armenian Chess Championship in 1996 and 1997.[2] In 1999 he made his way through to the final of the FIDE Knock-Out World Chess Championship, but lost to Alexander Khalifman, 3.5-2.5.[3] In the 2004 event, he was knocked out in the quarter-finals by the player he had defeated in the 1999 semi-finals, Michael Adams.
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.[4]
On the July 2011 FIDE list, he has an Elo rating of 2667, making him number 81 in the world and Armenia's number three player, behind Levon Aronian and Sergei Movsesian.
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.[5]
In December 2009, he was awarded the title of "Honoured Master of Sport of the Republic of Armenia".[6]
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[7] and the 38th Chess Olympiad in Dresden, 2008.[8] He was a member of the gold-medal winning Armenian team at the World Team Chess Championship in 2011.[9]