Testimonials

GM Akobian is not only a phenomenal coach but also a lovely person.The kindness,care and dedication he has shown my son, Brandon Nydick, has been tremendous. Brandon says, "Var is able to explain things quickly and clearly in a way that makes sense to me.He is always so nice to me when I make a mistake, and just wants to help me learn from it.Var has made me a more complete player - not only improving my strengths but also developing all of my weaknesses." In less than six months, Brandon has gained about 250 rating points to 1912 and just won Grade Nationals for 3rd Grade.He could not have done it without Var and Brandon feels very lucky to have Var as his coach.

Var is an exceptional coach and it has truly been a pleasure to be his student for the past 7 years. At the beginning of each lesson, we play two games, and believe me, he never makes it easy for me. This forces me to play with accuracy if I want to stay in the game, and forces me to fight even harder to obtain any kind of edge. He has also helped me build a solid repertoire and has sharpened my positional play, endgames, and tactics. When I play in tournaments, this all translates into real results. Var pushed me to the next level: when I began studying with him, I was an 1800, but in a couple years I surpassed 2200 FIDE. Working with a coach who is rapidly ascending the ranks of professional chess is a true inspiration. And, even though he is very highly ranked, he is able to understand the unique needs of his students, regardless of their level of play.

In 2009, I began to seriously train with GM Varuzhan Akobian, and as a result, my rating jumped from 1999 to 2200 in one year! Var put an emphasis on "playing like a grandmaster" and spent time during lessons to go over top-level games to force me to find moves that strong grandmasters had played before me. He taught me many concrete themes and motifs for various types of positions, and this allowed me to strengthen my playing ability right away and be creative over the board. I highly recommend Var for players of all strengths.

Var Akobian is a great player and a great Coach. My Son Aravinda has been taking online chess coaching from Akobian for the past two years. Aravinda's chess playing skills have been improving a lot. Aravinda's current USCF rating is 1535. Aravinda's USCF rating was about 1100 when he started his online chess lessons with Akobian. I'll encourage Aravinda continously taking the online chess lessons from Akobian. I'm very satisfied with Akobian's online chess lessons to my son. Also, I would recommend Akobian to my friends those who need chess coaching.

Even at my senior age of 67, I find that during the past eight months my enjoyable weekly sessions with Varuzhan have caused the excitement in my chess games and my confidence on the chess board to sky rocket!
Needless to say, I will continue having Var on my side, taking lessons and notes in order to continue to play better chess all the time.