Magnus Carlsen ''king' of chess

Sven Magnus Qen Carlsen (Norwegian: Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen, IPA: [svɛn ˈmɑ̀ŋnʉs øːn ˈkɑːɭsn̩]) born 30 November 1990 is a Norwegian chess grandmaster, currently a world chess champion, world fast chess champion and world lightning chess champion. Carlsen first topped the FIDE world rankings in 2010 and is only time behind Garry Kasparov as the player with the highest ELO in the world (elo 2881). His peak standard flag ELO was 2903, the highest in history.

A chess prodigy, Carlsen won the bronze title in the 2002 World Under-12 Chess Championship. Shortly after turning 13, he finished first in Group C of the Corus chess tournament and won the grandmaster title a few months later. At the age of 15, he won the Norwegian Chess Championship, and at the age of 17 he finished first in the top group of the Corus chess tournament. He surpassed the ELO 2800 at the age of 18 and reached number one in the FIDE world rankings at the age of 19, becoming the youngest person ever to achieve those feats.

Carlsen became world chess champion in 2013 by defeating Viswanathan Anand. The following year, he successfully defended his title against Anand, winning both the 2014 World Fast Track Championship and the 2014 World Blitz Championship, thus becoming the first player to simultaneously hold all three titles; a feat he repeated in 2019. He defended his standard chess world title after defeating Serge Karjakin in 2016, Fabiano Caruana in 2018 and Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2021.Carlsen when he was young (7/2004 Molde)

  (Qualifying round 18 years ago)

Known for his offensive style as a teenager, Carlsen has developed into an all-around player. He uses a variety of opening styles to make it harder for opponents to prepare for competition and reduces the effectiveness of computer flag analysis. He has claimed the middle stage is his favorite stage of playing chess because it "goes back to pure chess". Carlsen's positional play and chess prowess have drawn comparisons to former world champions Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov, Vasily Smyslov and Jose Raúl Capablanca. Carlsen next to the wooden king.