Magnus Carlsen - The 16th World Chess Champion

Magnus Carlsen is the 16th official world chess champion, a model, businessman and writer. He wrote some books like “Magnus Carlsen win with White/Black, Carlsen Assault on the throne, etc 

He was born on November 30, 1990 at Tonsberg, Norway. His father an amateur chess player taught him at the age of 5. He was passionate to beat his sister, so he took the chess seriously. 

In 1999, GM Simen Agdestein coached him in his first tournament at Norwegian Chess Championship with 6/11 points. 

In 2002, he placed 6th at European U-12 Chess Championship and tied for 1st in World Youth U-12 Chess Championship. The next year, he got his IM titled by performance rating over 2450, Gausdel Cup, Salongernas and Politiken.

In 2004, he gained his GM title at Dubai Open with 6.5/9 score at 2678 performance rating. He was also co-champion in the Norwegian Chess Championship (also the same in 2005 where he lost the tiebreak and 2006 but he won the tiebreak via play-off).

From 2005-2012, he participated in many top chess tournaments like; Gausdal 2005-1st place, Corus 2006-shared 1st, Bosna 2006-shared 1st, Biel 2006-2nd placed, Linares 2007-shared 2nd, Biel 2007-1st, Corus 2008-shared 1st, Linares 2008-2nd place, Aerosvit 2008-1st, Nanjing 2009-1st, Corus 2010, 2013-1st,  Amber 2010-shared 1st, Bazna King 2010, 2011-1st, Pearl Spring 2010-1st, London 2010 and 2012-1st, Biel 2011-1st, Grand Slam 2012 etc.

In 2009, he chose Garry Kasparov as his sparring coach and lasted a year where he learnt a lot in a complex positions. He gained the 2009 World Blitz title. Carlsen also said that he helped Anand in world championship matches, 2007, 2008 and 2010. The following year, he withdrawn from a candidates stating that the FIDE cycle was not modern and fair.

In 2013, Carlsen won the candidates and qualified for world championship match with Viswanathan Anand, After the match, Carlsen got the world title with 3 wins no loss and 7 draws. Again, Anand won the candidates and qualified for a rematch the following year, but Carlsen regained the title with 3 wins 1 lost and 7 draws.

One of Carlsen's greatest strengths is his versatility and adaptability in different types of positions. He is known for his deep understanding of the game, his exceptional calculation ability, and his strategic prowess. Carlsen's playing style is often described as solid, yet dynamic, and he is equally adept at playing aggressive or positional chess as the situation demands.

In 2014, in the month of May he achieved the highest rating of all at 2882. Also winning Gashimov Memorial with 3 FIDE titles (standard, rapid and blitz).

From 2015 onwards, he dominated the chess world by winning prestigious tournaments like London 2015, Grenke 2015, Shamkir 2015, 2018, 2019 London 2015, Qatar 2015, Tata Steel 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022 Norway 2016, 2019, 2020, 2022 Leuven 2016, Bilbao 2016, Paris 2017, Leuven 2017, Isle of Man 2017, Sinquefield 2018, Airthings Masters 2022, Charity Cup 2022, FTX Crypto Cup 2022.

One of his worst tournament performance was on Norway Chess 2015 place 7th out of 10 with 3.5/9 points.

He retained the title for 3 different matches: from Sergey Karjakin on 2016 with 3 wins 1 loss and 12 draws, from Fabiano Caruana on 2018 with 3 wins 0 loss and 12 draws and from Ian Nepomniachtchi on 2021 with 4 wins 0 loss and 7 draws. 

In 2019, he did not get World Chess960 title in the finals from Wesley So with no win 4 losses and 2 draws. He also founded the Offerspill Chess Club, the largest chess club in Norway.

Off the board, Carlsen has shown a thoughtful and engaging personality, with a keen sense of humor and a genuine passion for the game. He is also enjoying football with fellow chess players and others. His ability to connect with fans and enthusiasts has been an important factor in raising the profile of chess globally. 

In 2023, Carlsen did not defend his title in rematch with Ian Nepomniachtchi by withdrawal. Therefore the 2023 World Championship match took place between challenger Ian and runner-up Ding Liren. Ding won the title with 4 wins 3 losses and 11 draws and named as the 17th world chess champion.

In recent years (2023 till present), Carlsen has continued to dominate the world stage, maintaining his status as the top-ranked player and demonstrating his remarkable consistency in elite competition. His ongoing contributions to the game, both as a player and an ambassador, ensure that his legacy will endure in the annals of chess history.

He has the most world rapid victories 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022, and 2023. He is also 7 times world blitz champions and has a longest winning streak with 125 wins. He is the 2023 World Cup champion and 3 times Champions Chess Tour.

He was awarded in many publications like “Best Player of the Year 2009 and 2013” in Chess Oscar, “Sportsman of the Year 2009” in VG, “Top 100 Influential People in the World” in Time Magazine. Carlsen modelled the G-Stars Raws with Liv Tyler in 2010 and Lily Cole in 2014.

In 2013, Carlsen was the co-author of “Play Magnus” a chess apps wherein you can play with Magnus Carlsen’s strength in his respective ages. It merged with chess24 in 2019 and acquired by chess.com on 2022 assigning Carlsen as brand ambassador.

There are 3347 games listed in the chessbase2021 

Let’s look one of his best games which feature in our GMG page.