Magnus Carlsen, born on 30 November 1990 in Tønsberg, near Oslo, learned the rules of chess at the age of five, but, as is well known, was not particularly interested in the game. At some point, however, his ambition was awakened and he wanted to beat his older sister Ellen (thank you, Ellen!).
The gifted boy, equipped with a remarkable memory, began to take a closer interest in the game and started playing tournament chess. In the summer of 1999, he took part in the children's group of the Norwegian Championships and already achieved a positive result.
Ganguly introduces conceptually fresh directions in several key lines – even in the most played main lines.
The Ragozin Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4) has become a cornerstone of modern chess theory. With 3.Nf3 gaining popularity as a way to avoid Nimzo-Indian setups and the challenges Black faces in the Queen’s Indian, the Ragozin offers a solid and dynamic alternative.
Free video sample: Introduction
Free video sample: 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bf4
This is how it all began | Photo: Hun on Chess
He evidently enjoyed it, as immediately afterwards he also played in a tournament in Gausdal. In January 2000, Magnus Carlsen, by then nine years old and presumably accompanied by his family, returned to Gausdal and played another tournament. Further tournament appearances followed in the next few weeks, and in the summer of 2000 Carlsen was back in Gausdal, playing in the Peer Gynt Open.
The tournament is named after the fairy-tale hero Peer Gynt, a solitary hunter in the forests of old Norway, who performed various heroic deeds, such as rescuing dairymaids from trolls and such things.
When Magnus Carlsen played in the Peer Gynt Open in Gausdal in 2000, the trolls had all already disappeared. Arnold Eikrem (1932-1995) had also already passed away.
Eikrem came from Trondheim and was a talented chess player in his youth. He then turned to chess journalism and, above all, to the organisation of chess tournaments. Eikrem founded a chess club in Trondheim. From 1957 to 1959, he was elected President of the Norwegian Chess Federation for the first time. He held the office again from 1970 to 1979.
Arnold Eikrem
Eikrem's most important achievement in popularising chess in Norway was the organisation of countless tournaments at the Gausdal Høifjellshotel. Through his numerous tournaments, Eikrem turned the location near the winter sports centre of Lillehammer into a place of pilgrimage not only for European chess enthusiasts.
Between 1970 and the year of his death, 1996, Arnold Eikrem organised 187 tournaments in Gausdal, with titles such as "Arnold Cup", "Troll Masters" and "Peer Gynt Open", as well as further tournaments in other locations in Norway. Arnold Eikrem is the Peer Gynt of Norwegian chess history.
In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.On 31 July 2000, Eikrem had just started a new tournament, a Peer Gynt Open, and Magnus Carlsen, nine years old and with a rating of 904, took part. In round one, Carlsen lost with the black pieces against Aksel Brasoy, aged 24, who, with a rating of 1590, was clearly stronger than the young Carlsen.
But in the second round, Carlsen was able to make amends. This time he faced a player of the same age, only a few weeks older than himself. His opponent was the likewise nine-year-old Jonathan Carlstedt, who had travelled from Hamburg with his father to earn his first chess spurs in Gausdal. But not against Magnus Carlsen.
And this is how the game between the two nine-year-old children went:
Magnus Carlsen, as is well known, became World Champion and arguably the best player in chess history. Jonathan Carlstedt also became a chess grandmaster, and also works as a chess trainer, author and chess journalist. He took the defeat well.
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Let our authors show you how Carlsen tailored his openings to be able to outplay his opponents strategically in the middlegame or to obtain an enduring advantage into the endgame.
