Chess on MTV

GM Var Akobian showed up on, of all places, that venerable bastion of contemporary intellectual accomplishments, MTV "True Life" in the "I'm A Genius" episode. For now you'll just have to trust me on this because even MTV hasn't posted the actual clip on their own official web site yet. (To be fair, the stars of the "I Have Acne" & "I'm a Southern Belle" episodes most likely were as claimed.)
There seems to be a considerable firestorm of controversy already concerning the use of the word "genius" in connection with the "5th best chess player in the US" (see link below) & his costar who looks to be a fairly bright high school senior (runner up at Teen Jeopardy, yadda, yadda, yadda...) though somewhat less deserving of the term by virtue of his NOT getting accepted at Stamford University.
While Akobian's published rating is 2659, his rating history graph shows him currently at his peak of 2695. He's also listed as #10 on the top US players' list (based 2659), which may or may not qualify him as a "genius" depending on your definition. I know that he's been playing very good chess in the US for some time now & he's making his presence felt in international arenas as well.
I'll add some of his notable games later.