Magnus Carlsen (1)

The current world number one, Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born in Tønsberg, Norway, in 1990), became world champion in 2013 and held the title for ten years until he decided not to defend it further. Magnus Carlsen’s exceptional talent quickly elevated him to the pinnacle of the chess world, and he is regarded by many as one of the strongest players in chess history. Although he didn’t break every record, he achieved the grandmaster title at just 13 years old and became the youngest player ever to top the FIDE rating list on January 1, 2010—demonstrating his place among the game’s elite. In January 2013, Carlsen achieved a rating of 2861, surpassing Garry Kasparov’s record.

In 2013, Carlsen won the Candidates Tournament in London, earning the right to challenge reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand (see World Chess Championship 2013). He defeated Anand in November in Chennai, India, with a score of 6½-3½, becoming the second-youngest world champion ever; only Kasparov was younger. He went on to successfully defend his title in 2014 (against Anand), 2016 (against Sergey Karjakin), 2018 (against Fabiano Caruana), and 2021 (against Ian Nepomniachtchi). However, in 2023, Carlsen announced he would not defend his title again, thus relinquishing it.

Carlsen learned chess at the age of five from his father, Henrik Albert Carlsen, a chemical engineer. Magnus showed an early aptitude for intellectual challenges. At age two, he could solve 500-piece puzzles; by age four, he enjoyed assembling complex Lego sets meant for children 10-14 years old. Although he initially showed little interest in chess, he later stated his motivation was to beat his eldest sister, sparking what would become a meteoric career. His later coach, grandmaster and Norwegian champion Simen Agdestein, emphasized Carlsen’s exceptional memory. At the age of five, Magnus could recall the locations, populations, flags, and capitals of all the world’s countries, and later memorized similar details for nearly all 356 Norwegian municipalities. In 2003, he earned the title of International Master, and in 2004, his parents took a sabbatical to enable him to participate in numerous tournaments.

In the Netherlands, we remember well when 13-year-old Carlsen achieved his first major success, winning the C group of the former Corus tournament (now Tata Steel) in Wijk aan Zee. Along the way, he earned his first GM norm and played a remarkable game against Dutch player Sipke Ernst, winning with an epaulette mate. Carlsen earned his second norm later that year at the Aeroflot tournament in Moscow, and his third in Dubai with a score of 6½ out of 9. At 13 years, 4 months, and 27 days, he became the second-youngest grandmaster ever, following Sergey Karjakin of Russia. That same year, he made headlines in a blitz tournament in Reykjavik, where he defeated former world champion Anatoly Karpov in the preliminaries and went on to play Garry Kasparov in the knockout stage. Although he drew the first game and lost the second, this encounter drew significant attention.

The following year, Magnus experienced both highs and lows. He played a four-game match against then-world number ten Viswanathan Anand, ending in a 3-1 loss to the Indian grandmaster in their first head-to-head meeting. However, in 2006, Carlsen exacted revenge on Anand in an Icelandic blitz tournament, defeating him 2-0 in the semifinals and winning the final with the same score. Carlsen’s performances in Wijk aan Zee were initially inconsistent, and when he first competed in the top group in 2007, he finished in last place. That same year, he also participated in the Candidates Tournament for the World Championship. In a six-game match against Armenian Levon Aronian, Carlsen twice came back from a deficit. The rapid games ended 2-2, but Aronian won the blitz games 2-0. These short matches helped shape Carlsen into an almost unbeatable match player. He also reached the semifinals of the 2007 FIDE World Cup, defeating players like Michael Adams and Ivan Cheparinov, but lost to the eventual winner, Gata Kamsky. In 2008, he finally claimed victory (shared) in Wijk aan Zee with a score of 8 out of 13, alongside Levon Aronian.

In the next episode of this video series, we will further explore the success story of Magnus Carlsen.

The diagram position comes from a game between Magnus Carlsen and Dutch player Sipke Ernst (who also earned a GM norm in this tournament). In this position, White cleverly opens Black’s king’s position. Can you guess Carlsen’s next move and calculate the follow-up?

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