Sven Magnus Een Carlsen (born World Chess Champion in 3 categories: since 2013 - world champion in classical chess; in 2014-2016, 2019 - world champion in rapid chess; in 2014-2015, 2017-2019 - champion blitz world.
One of the youngest grandmasters in history - became a grandmaster at the age of 13 years 4 months 27 days. Since 2013, it has been the owner of the highest Elo rating in the entire history of its existence - 2882 points.
There are many interesting facts in the biography of Magnus Carlsen, which we will talk about in this article.
So, here is a short biography of Carlsen.
Biography of Magnus Carlsen
Magnus Carlsen was born on November 30, 1990 in the Norwegian city of Tensberg. He grew up in the family of engineer Henrik Carlsen, who was a serious chess player with an Elo rating of 2100 points. In addition to Magnus, his parents had 3 daughters: Hellen, Ingrid and Signa.
Childhood and youth
Even in early childhood, the future champion demonstrated outstanding abilities. At the age of 4, he memorized the names of all 436 municipal cities in the country.
In addition, Magnus knew all the capitals of the world, as well as the flags of each state. Then he began to learn to play chess. It is worth noting that his real interest in this game appeared at the age of 8.
During this period of his biography, Carlsen began to study books on chess and take part in tournaments. At the same time, he loved to conduct blitz games on the Web. When he turned 13, Microsoft sent the Carlsen family on a yearlong tour.
Even then, Magnus was predicted to be a champion in chess. And these were not just words, since the boy really showed a phenomenal game, beating the grandmasters.
Chess
From the age of 10, Magnus was coached by Torbjörn Ringdal Hansen, a student of the Norwegian champion and grandmaster Simen Agdestein. An interesting fact is that he encouraged the child to study the textbooks of Soviet chess players.
After a couple of years, Agdestein himself continued to teach Carlsen. The boy progressed so quickly that at the age of 13 he became one of the youngest grandmasters in the world. In 2004 he managed to become the vice-champion of the world in Dubai.
In Iceland, Magnus defeated former world champion Anatoly Karpov, and drew with another former champion, Garry Kasparov. From that moment in his biography, the Norwegian began to progress even more and prove his own superiority over opponents.
In 2005, Carlsen was included in the TOP-10 list of the strongest players in the world championship, having managed to confirm the title of the strongest chess player in the world, and, in addition, the youngest.
In 2009 Garry Kasparov became the young man's new coach. According to the mentor, he was impressed by the Norwegian's talent, having managed to "pull up" him in the development of the opening. Kasparov noted Magnus' unique intuition, which helps him both in blitz and traditional games.
An interesting fact is that Carlsen was nicknamed "Chess Mozart" for his virtuoso game. In 2010, his rating in Elo reached - 2810 points, thanks to which the Norwegian became the youngest chess player number 1 in history - 19 years and 32 days.
In 2011, Magnus managed to defeat his main opponent Sergey Karjakin. Curiously, at the age of 12 years and 211 days, Karjakin became the youngest grandmaster in history, as a result of which his name was in the Guinness Book of Records.
After 2 years, Magnus was in the ranking of the most influential people on the planet. In 2013, the grandmaster became the 13th world chess champion, gaining universal recognition and popularity.
The following year, the rating of the guy in Elo was a fantastic 2882 points! In 2020, this record could not be broken by any chess player, including Magnus himself.
In early 2016, the champion took 1st place in the 78th tournament in Wijk aan Zee. A few months later, he defended the world champion title in a duel with Karjakin. After that, he won prizes in rapid and blitz tournaments.
In 2019, Magnus Carlsen became the champion of the super tournament in the Dutch Wijk aan Zee, after which he took first places in 2 more super tournaments - the Gashimov memorial and the GRENKE Chess Classic. In both competitions he managed to show a brilliant game. At the same time, he won the rapid and blitz tournament in Abidjan.
In the summer of the same year, Carlsen won the Norway Chess tournament. He lost only one game to the American Fabiano Caruana. It is worth noting that during the whole of 2019 he did not suffer a single defeat in classical games.
At the end of the same year, Magnus became the No. 1 chess player in the world in rapid chess. As a result, he turned out to be a champion in 3 chess categories at once!
Play style
The Norwegian is considered a universal player, noting that he is especially good at the middlegame (the next stage of the chess game after the opening) and the endgame (the final part of the game).
The most famous players describe Carlsen as a phenomenal player. Grandmaster Luc van Wely stated that when others see nothing in a position, he just starts playing. " He also added that Magnus is a subtle psychologist who never doubts that sooner or later the opponent will make a mistake.
Soviet-Swiss chess player Viktor Korchnoi argued that a guy's success depends not so much on talent as on the ability to hypnotize an opponent. Grandmaster Evgeny Bareev once said that Carlsen plays so brightly that one gets the impression that he has no nervous system.
In addition to comparing with Mozart, many people compare Magnus's playing style with the American Bobby Fischer and the Latvian Mikhail Tal.
Personal life
In 2020, Carlsen remains unmarried. In 2017, he admitted that he was dating a girl named Sinn Christine Larsen. Only time will tell how their relationship will end.
In addition to chess, the guy shows interest in skiing, tennis, basketball and football. An interesting fact is that he is a fan of Real Madrid. In his spare time, he enjoys reading comics.
The sportsman receives a lot of profit from advertising of clothes of the G-Star RAW brand - over $ 1 million a year. He promotes chess through the Play Magnus program and donates personal funds to charity.
Magnus Carlsen today
The Norwegian continues to take part in the largest tournaments, winning prizes. In 2020, he managed to break the world record by playing 111 unbeaten games.
Now Magnus often visits various TV programs, on which he shares interesting facts from his biography. He has an Instagram page with over 320,000 subscribers.
Photo by Magnus Carlsen
