Magnus Carlsen Biography

The BIRTH: November 30, 1990, Norway

Magnus Carlsen Biography : Famous Chess Players

Magnus Carlsen is a Norwegian chess player who currently holds the world chess cham pion title. At the age of 22, Magnus was the second youngest world chess champion.

Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen was born on November 30, 1990 in Norway to Sigrun Øen and Henrik Albert Carlsen. Magnus displayed advanced mental capabilities from a very young age. At the age of four, he could assemble Lego sets intended for much older children. His father recognized his son’s abilities and was the first person to introduce him to the game. Magnus’ father taught him chess even though he himself was an amateur chess player.

In 1999, at the age of eight, Magnus participated in his first chess competition at the Norwegian Chess Championship in the junior category. He played eleven games and maintained a score of 6.5 points. Given his talent, the International Grandmaster started coaching Magnus.

During the year 2000, Carlsen mastered his skills even further, gaining over a thousand rating points and a performance rating of around 2000. By the end of 2002, he’d competed in more than 300 chess tournaments.

In 2004, Carlsen gained international recognition after he won his first tournament in the C group in the Corus chess tournament, at Wijkaan Zee in Netherlands. He played in the lowest-rated group against adult players, but he dominated the tournament. This victory by the teenager led Grandmaster Lubomir Kavalek to dub him the “Mozart of Chess”.

Carlsen had played against champions like Anatoly Karpov beating the former world champion – and Garry Kasparov, who was the top-rated chess player in the world. Carlsen was ranked second at the 2004 Dubai Open Chess Championship in April 2004 leading him to earn the title of Grandmaster. He was the third youngest person ever to have this honor, at the age of thirteen.

At the age of fifteen, Carlsen proved his brilliance by defeating the number ten world champion, Alexei Shirov in 2005. He participated in the 2006 Norwegian Chess Championship, playing fiercely but losing to Berge Østenstad in the final round. In 2007, Carlsen was part of the great Linares chess tournament for the first time. This tournament is known as “the Wimbledon of chess” by many. He finished in second place after playing against chess-stars like Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Peter Svidler and Levon Aronian. He was also successful at the International Chess Festival Biel Grandmaster Tournament.

Carlsen became the youngest person to ever have won a category 18 tournament in August 2007. At the 37th chess Olympiad, his rating passed the 2700 mark. In 2008, he finally entered the top ten rankings in the world. Carlsen shared the first place in the Corus chess tournament, which made him the youngest person ever to have won a category 20 tournament.

In 2009, Carlsen’s biggest success came after he won the World Blitz Championship and became the fifth (and youngest) chess player to achieve an Elo-rating of over 2800. He then participated in the London Chess Classic and defeated the world champion, Vladimir Kramnik. As a result of his constant success, the nineteen-year-old Carlsen was announced as the top player in the world by FIDE in January 2010; once again the youngest player to achieve this feat.

The world witnessed one of the most important chess matches in the year 2013. It was between Carlsen and the world chess champion, Vishwanathan Anand. Carlsen defeated Anand in ten games and thus became the new world champion. At the age of 22, he was the second youngest player to have won the world title, after Gary Kasparov.

For Magnus, the year 2017 had a rough start. He took part in the 79th Tata Steel Chess Tournament but lost the match. His opponent Giri described it as the “most embarrassing moment” of Carlsen’s career. Subsequently his ranking also dropped. However, he came back in form after a few months of training. He won the World Blitz Chess Championship for the third time, placed second in the Sinquefield Cup, and fifth in the London Chess Classics, gaining enough points to take out the 2017 Grand Chess Tour.

Carlsen’s exceptional skills and success have won him five Chess Oscars in his career. In 2011, he received the Peer Gynt Prize, a Norwegian honor for a person or institution that has achieved distinction in society. Carlsen is known for his Elo rating – 2882, the highest in chess history.