Magnus Carlsen

Sven Magnus Oen Carlsen was born in Tonsberg, Norway on November 30, 1990. His parents were Henrik Albert Carlsen and Sigrun Oen Carlsen.

Magnus learned chess in 1996 at the age of 5, taught by his father.

His first chess book was Larsen’s Good Move Guide (1982) by Bent Larsen.

Carlsen was coached by 7-time Norwegian champion Simen Agdestein (1967- ) at the Norwegian College of Elite Sport. He was also coached by Curt Hansen (1964- ).

In July 1999, he played in his first chess tournament, the Under-11 division of the Norwegian Chess Championship, held in Gausdal, Norway. He was 8 years and 7 months. He scored 6.5 out of 11 and took 13^th place, with a rating of around 1000. In a year, his rating would be 1907.

In March 2000, he played in the Open Norwegian championship, held in Gausdal. He scored 3.5 out of 9, and took 29^th place.

In July 2000, he took 1^st place in the Under-11 division of the Norwegian championship, scoring 10 out of 11. The event was held in Asker, Norway.

In September 2000, Carlsen played in the Norwegian junior teams championship. He scored 3.5 out of 5 against the top junior players of Norway. His performance rating was 2000.

In November 2000, he took 1^st place in the Under-10 division of the Norwegian Youth Championship, scoring 6 out of 7.

In February 2001, he took 1^st place in the Nordic School, under-11 championship, scoring 5.5 out of 6.

In April 2001, he took 12^th place in the Norway Open, held in Oslo, scoring 5.5 out of 9.

In November 2001, he took 1^st place in the Under-12 division of the Norwegian Youth Championship, scoring 7 out of 7.

In February 2002, he took 1^st in the Under-12 division of the Nordic Youth Championship. He scored 5 out of 6. His rating was 2148.

In November 2002, he took 2^nd in the World Under-12 championship, held in Heraklio, Greece. He had a performance rating of over 2500.

In January 2003, at age 12, he obtained an International Master norm at the Gausdal Troll Masters, scoring 7 out of 10 (6 wins, 2 losses, 2 draws) with a performance rating of 2345. He took 6^th place out of 60 players.

In April 2003, he won the Under-20 championship of the Norwegian chess championship, held in Oslo.

In June 2003, he obtained his second IM norm at the Salongernas tournament in Stockholm, scoring 6 out of 9, with a performance rating of 2470. He took 2^nd out of 10 players.

In July 2003, he obtained his third IM norm at the 25^th Politken Cup in Copenhagen, scoring 8 out of 11, with a 2503 performance rating. He took 12^th out of 255 players.

On August 20, 2003, he was awarded the International Master title at the age of 12 years, 7 months, and 25 days.

In September 2003, he tied for 3^rd out of 70 at the European Under-14 Boys Championship, held in Budva.

In October 2003, he took 9^th out of 116 in the world Under-14 championship, held in Chalkidiki.

In 2004, he won the C group at the Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee. He scored 10.5 out of 13. That earned him his first GM norm. His performance rating was 2702.

In February 2004, he obtained his second GM norm in the Moscow Aeroflot Open.

On Match 17, 2004, Carlsen defeated former World Champion Anatoly Karpov in a blitz tournament held in Reykjavik, Iceland. The next day, he drew with Garry Kasparov.

In April 2004, he obtained his third and final GM norm at the 6^th Dubai Open. He thus became the world’s youngest GM at age 13 years, 4 months, and 27 days.

In June-July 2004, Carlsen played in the FIDE World Chess Championship at Tripoli, thus becoming the youngest player ever to participate in one. He was knocked out in round 1 by Levon Aronian. The event was won by Rustam Kasimdzhanov.

In July 2004, Carlsen tied for 1^st with Berge Ostenstad in the Norwegian Chess Championship, but lost on tiebreaks.

In 2004-05, he played in the Smartfish Chess Masters at the Drammen International Chess Festival.

In June 2005, he played in the Ciudad de Leon rapid chess tournament.

In 2005, he tied for 1^st with Simen Agdestein in the Norwegian Chess Championship, but lost in the play-offs.

In 2005, he played in the Chess World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, finishing 10^th. He became the youngest player to be an official World Championship Candidate.

In October 2005, he took 1^st place at the Arnold Eikrem Memorial in Gausdal, scoring 8 out of 9, with a performance rating of 2792.

In January 2006, his rating was 2625 at the age of 15 years and 32 days.

In January 2006, he tied for 1^st place with Alexander Motylev in the Corus B in Wijk aan Zee, scoring 9 out of 13. The event was held January 14-29, 2006.

In March 2006, he won the Glitnir Blitz in Iceland.

In May 2006, he scored 6 out of 8 at the 37^th Chess Olympiad in Turin. His performance rating was 2820.

In May 2006, he tied for 1^st at the 36^th Bosnia International Tournament. He scored 5.5 out of 10.

In June 2006, he took 2^nd at the Midnight Sun Chess Challenge in Tromso, Norway. He scored 7 out of 9.

In July 2006, at Biel, he took 2^nd, behind Alexander Morozevich. He scored 6 out of 10.

In August 2006, he played in the NH chess tournament held in Amsterdam, playing for the “Rising Stars” against the “Experience” team. Carlsen scored 6.5 out of 10 with a 2700 performance rating.

In September 2006, he tied for 1^st place with Agdestein in the Norwegian championship, winning the play-off.

In 2006, he placed 8^th out of 16 at the World Blitz Championship in Rishon LeZion, Israel, with the score of 7.5 out of 15.

In November 2006, he took 9^th place out of 10 in the Tal Memorial in Moscow. His score was 3.5 out of 9.

In January 2007, Carlsen placed 13^th out of 14 at the Corus A tournament. He only score 4.5 out of 13.

In 2007, he tied for 2^nd at Linares, scoring 7.5 out of 14, with a performance rating of 2778.

In March 2007, he played in the Melody Amber tournament in Monte Carlo. He took 8^th place overall.

In May-June 2007, he played in the Candidates Tournament for the FIDE World Chess Championship, held in Mexico City. He lost in the play-offs against Aronian.

In July 2007, his rating was 2710 at the age of 16 years, 213 days. He is the youngest person to break the 2700 barrier.

In July-August 2007, he won the Biel GM tournament, scoring 6 out of 10, with a performance rating of 2753.

In 2007, he played in the Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsa, taking 4^th place.

In December 2007, he reached the semifinal round of the World Chess Cup. He was eliminated by Gata Kamsky.

In 2008, he tied for 1^st at Corus A with Levon Aronian. He score 8 out of 13, achieving a performance rating of 2830.

In 2008, he took 2^nd at Linares, behind Anand, scoring 8 out of 14, with a 2800 performance rating.

In March 2008, he tied for 2^nd at the Melody Amber tournament in Nice.

In 2008, he tied for 1^st at Baku, Azerbaijan in the FIDE Grand Prix.

In 2008, he won a rapid match against Peter Leko in Miskolc, Hungary, scoring 5-3.

In June 2008, he won the annual Aerosvit event, scoring 8 out of 11. His performance rating was 2877.

In 2008, he took 3^rd at the Biel Grandmaster tournament. He scored 6 out of 10.

In 2008, he took 2^nd at the World Rapid Chess Championship in Mainz.

In 2008, he took 2^nd at the Bilbao Masters.

In early 2009, Carlsen hired Kasparov to be his trainer.

In 2009, he tied for 5^th at the Corus A tournament.

In 2009, he took 3^rd at Linares.

In 2009, he tied for 2^nd with Veselin Topalov at the M-Tel Masters in Sofia, Bulgaria.

In 2009, he won the category 21 Nanjing Pearl Spring tournament. He scored 8 out of 10. His performance rating was 3002.

In November 2009, he tied for 2^nd at the Tal Memorial.

In November 2009, he won the World Blitz Championship, held in Moscow.

In 2009 he won the London Chess Classic.

In December 2009, in an interview with Time magazine, Carlsen said that he did not use a chess set when studying on his own.

Carlsen won the Chess Oscar for 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.

In January 2010, he won the Corus A tournament. His 9^th round loss ended his 36 rated games undefeated. In January 2010, he was ranked #1 I the world.

In 2010, he tied for 1^st at the Amber blindfold and rapid tournament.

In June 2010, he won at the Bazna Kings tournament in Romania.

In August 2010 he won the Arctic Securities Chess Stars tournament.

In September-October 2010, he score 4.5 out of 8 at the 39^th Chess Olympiad, held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

In October 2010, he score 2.5 out of 6 at the Grand Slam Masters Final in Bilbao, Spain.

In October 2010, he won the Pearl Spring chess tournament in Nanjing, China.

In November 2010, he took 3^rd at the World Blitz Championship, held in Moscow.

In December 2010, he won the London Chess Classic.

In January 2011, he score 8 out of 13 at the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee.

In June 2011, he won at the Bazna Kings tournament in Medias.

In September-October 2011, he won the Grand Slam Chess Final, held in Sao Paolo and Bilbao.

In November 2011, he won the Tal Memorial.

In December 2011, he took 3^rd at the London Chess Classic. His rating was 2835.

In January 2012, he tied for 2^nd at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee.

In June 2012, he tied for 1^st at the Blitz chess tournament at the Tal Memorial in Moscow. He won the Tal Memorial.

In 2012, he took 2^nd at the Biel GM tournament.

In 2012, he tied for 1^st in the Grand Slam Chess Final, held in Sao Paulo and Bilbao.

In November 2012, he won at Mexico.

In December 2012, he won the London Chess Classic. His rating was 2861, the highest ever.

In January 2013, he took 1^st at the 75^th Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee.

In March-April 2013, he took 1^st in the 2013 Candidates Tournament, held in London. As a result, he earned the right to challenge Anand for the World Champion title.

In May 2013, he took 2^nd at a tournament in Norway.

In June 2013, he took 2^nd in the Tal Memorial.

In September 2012, he took 1^st at the Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis.

In November 2013, he won the world chess championship after defeating Anand in Chennai, India. Carlsen won the match 6.5-3.5 with 3 wins and 7 draws. He is the 16^th official world chess champion.

In January-February 2014, he won the Zurich Chess Challenge. The other players included Fabiono Caruana, Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura, Viswanathan Anand, and Boris Gelfand.

In March 2014, Carlsen scored 8.5 out of 9 in Caxias do Sul, Brazil. He also won an open Swiss there.

His March 2014 rating is 2881.

Magnus Carlsen (born Nov 30, 1990), as challenger, defeated 5-time world champion Viswanathan (Vishy) Anand in November, 2012. The match was held in Chennai, India. Carlsen won the match 6.5 to 3.5, winning 3 games, drawing 7, and losing none, to become Classical World Champion. Carlsen is the second-youngest world chess champion. Kasparov was younger when he won the title. Carlsen has been ranked number 1 in the world since January 2010.

The Dubai Chess & Cultural Club hosted the world rapid and blitz championship, with a $400,000 prize fund. The event was open to any player rated above 2500. 123 competitors from 44 countries registered.

Carlsen won the FIDE World Rapid Championship (15 minutes plus 10 seconds added per move) held in Dubai June 16-18, 2014. There were 15 rounds. 113 players participated. Carlsen scored 11 out of 15 (8 wins, 6 draws, 1 loss) to take 1^st place. Fabiano Caruana, Anand, and Alexander Morozevich all score 10.5 points. Carlsen was seeded No. 4 in the event (behind Nakamura, Karajakin, and Aronian). His only loss in rapid chess was to Anand, though by a blunder in a better position. Last year’s winner was GM Mamedyarov.

Carlsen won the FIDE World Blitz Championship (3 minutes per 2 seconds per move) held in Dubai June 19-20, 2014. There were 21 rounds. Carlsen scored 17 points out of 21 (14 wins, 6 draws, and 1 loss). 116 players participated, including 103 grandmasters (16 of the top 20 in the world participated). Hikaru Nakamura dn Ian Nepomniachtchi scored 16 out of 21 to tie for 2^nd-3^rd. His only loss in blitz chess was to Chinese player Lu Shanglei. Last year’s winner was Li Quang Liem. Carlsen had won the world blitz championship in 2009.

The first (unofficial) world blitz championship was won by Bobby Fischer in Yugoslavia in 1970, who score 4.5 points more than his next rival.

Carlsen, at age 23, becomes the first player to hold the title of all three FIDE rated time controls. Carlsen won $80,000 ($40,000 each for the rapid and blitz crowns).

When asked about bullet chess and correspondence chess, Carlsen responded that he did not have the hands for bullet chess and was too impatient for correspondence chess. When Carlsen was asked how to explain his success, he replied, “It’s not rocket science. Part of the secret is just to play quick and make few blunders.” When asked what he can do next in chess, he replied, “I can do it again.”

Carlsen’s training includes trying out new moves and studying those of others. He says he has memorized about 10,000 chess games. His strongest part of chess is his endgame play. Many consider him the greatest endgame player of all time.

Carlsen’s standard FIDE rating is 2881. His rapid rating is 2855. His blitz rating is 2948.