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Early Successes & Youth Titles Born December 7, 1971, in Baku, Azerbaijan (then Soviet Union). Winner of the World U16 Championship in 1986 and the World U18 in 1989. In 1991 he became World Junior Champion (U20) and simultaneously earned the grandmaster title. Strong Competitive Achievements Armenian Champion in 1996 and 1997. As a member of “Yerevan” helped secure victory in the 1995 European Club Cup. Individual Results & World Championship Reached the final of the 1999 FIDE Knockout World Championship, losing narrowly 3.5–2.5 to Alexander Khalifman. In 2002 he defeated then–FIDE world number one Garry Kasparov in the “Russia vs. The Rest of the World” match. Team Successes with Armenia Represented Armenia in at least ten Chess Olympiads, helping the team win three Olympic gold medals: Turin 2006, Dresden 2008, and Istanbul 2012. Also earned silver and bronze medals in other Olympiads and World Team Championships, including team gold at the 2011 World Team Championship in Ningbo, China. Remarkably, he remained unbeaten in 42 games across Olympiads and European Club Cup events, never conceding a full point to an opponent. Elo Rating & Other Tournament Successes Reached a peak FIDE rating of 2713 in July 2006, consistently ranking among the world’s top 20. Won multiple tournaments including the 1991 U.S. Open, the 2007 Gibraltar Masters, and had top finishes at the Dubai Open and Aeroflot Open. Coaching Career & Recent Successes Since 2021, Akopian has represented the United States. Crowned 2024 U.S. Senior Chess Champion, scoring 7/9 without a single loss. Active as a trainer: he served as Peter Leko’s second during the 2004 World Championship match against Kramnik, coached national teams such as Qatar and Armenia, and has held the FIDE Senior Trainer title since 2015.
