Magnus Carlsen is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is a former five-time World Chess Champion and current four-time World Rapid Chess Champion and six-time World Blitz Chess Champion. Since 1 July 2011, Carlsen has held the No. 1 position in the FIDE world chess rankings and trails only Garry Kasparov in time spent as the highest-rated player in the world. His peak rating of 2882 is the highest in history. He also holds the record for the longest unbeaten streak at the elite level in classical chess. At 15, he won the Norwegian Chess Championship, and at 17 he finished joint first in the top group of Corus. In 2013, Carlsen became World Chess Champion by defeating Viswanathan Anand. Magnus uses a variety of openings to make it harder for opponents to prepare against him and reduce the utility of pre-game computer analysis.
Birth Name
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen
Nickname
Mozart of Chess
Profession
Chess Player
Nationality
Norwegian
Personal Life
Birthday / Date of Birth
Magnus Carlsen was born on the 30th of November 1990, in Tønsberg Municipality, Vestfold og Telemark County, Norway.
Age
He’s currently 32 years old.
Sun Sign
Sagittarius
Ethnicity
White
He is of Norwegian descent.
Religion
Christianity
Education
During the autumn of 2003, Magnus, after finishing primary school, had taken a year off to participate in international chess tournaments held in Europe. He had returned to complete his schooling at the Norwegian College of Elite Sport, an upper secondary school with sports as a focus, located in Nadderud, Bærum, Norway.
Family Details
- Father – Henrik Albert Carlsen (IT Consultant)
- Mother – Sigrun Øen (Chemical Engineer)
- Siblings – Ingrid Carlsen (Younger Sister), Ellen Øen Carlsen (Older Sister), Signe Carlsen (Older Sister)
Marital Status
Single
Girlfriend / Spouse
Magnus Carlsen has dated –
- Elisabet Lorentzen Djønne (2019–2021) – Carlsen previously had a two-year relationship with Elisabet Lorentzen Djonne, an Oslo criminology student. In 2020, Carlsen declared their romance after one year of dating, however they split up by 2021.
Physical Statistics
Height
- In feet – 5 feet 10 inches
- In centimeters – 178 cm
- In meters – 1.78 m
Weight
- In Kilograms – 73 kg
- In Pounds – 161 lbs
Body Build
Athletic
Eye Color
Hazel
Hair Color
Dark Brown
Shoe Size
He wears a size 11 (US) shoe.
Sexuality
Straight
Professional Statistics
Famous For
Magnus became known as a chess player who has won the World Chess Championship 5 times (2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021), the World Rapid Chess Championship thrice (2014, 2015, 2019), and the World Blitz Chess Championship 5 times (2009, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019). Widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time, and often the greatest, he had held the number 1 position (as of February 2022) in the FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) world chess rankings continuously since July 1, 2011.
Professional Career
At the 2004, Carlsen made headlines after his victory, at the age of 13, in the C group Corus chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee. He earned his first GM norm, and achieved a PR of 2702. Particularly notable was his win over Sipke Ernst in the penultimate round, when he sacrificed material to give mate in just 29 moves. In July, Carlsen and Berge Østenstad, then the reigning Norwegian champion, tied for first in the Norwegian Chess Championship.
In the Smartfish Chess Masters event at the Drammen International Chess Festival 2004–05, Carlsen defeated Alexei Shirov, then ranked No. 10. At the 2006 international ‘Bosna’ tournament in Sarajevo, Carlsen shared first place with Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (who won on tiebreak evaluation) and Vladimir Malakhov. In 2009, Playing in Group A of the 71st Corus chess tournament, Carlsen tied for fifth with a 2739 PR.
Carlsen won the 72nd Corus chess tournament played 16–31 January with 8½ points. His ninth-round loss to Kramnik ended a streak of 36 rated games undefeated. Carlsen faced Anand in the World Chess Championship 2013, at Hyatt Regency in Chennai, India, from 9 to 22 November. Carlsen won the match 6½–3½ by winning games five, six and nine and drawing the remainder, becoming the new World Chess Champion.
At the 2021 World Chess Championship, Carlsen defeated challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi in Game 6 after drawing the first five games. In November 2002, he had tied for first place at the 2002 World Under-12 Championship and had eventually finished runner-up to Ian Nepomniachtchi on tiebreak. On International Chess Day 2022 which was on July 20, 2022, he revealed that he won’t be defending his world chess champion title in 2023.
Magnus Carlsen Net worth
Magnus Carlsen has an estimated net worth of $25 million dollars as of 2023.
Social Media Profiles
- Facebook – Magnus Carlsen
- Instagram – magnus_carlsen
- Twitter – Magnus Carlsen
- YouTube Channel – Magnus Carlsen
Some Lesser Known Facts About Magnus Carlsen
- Carlsen was born in Tønsberg, Norway. The family spent one year in Espoo, Finland, and then in Brussels, Belgium, before returning to Norway in 1998, where they lived in Lommedalen, Bærum. They later moved to Haslum.
- He showed an aptitude for intellectual challenges at a young age. At two years, he could solve 500-piece jigsaw puzzles; at four, he enjoyed assembling Lego sets with instructions intended for children aged 10–14.
- The first chess book Carlsen read was a booklet named Find the Plan by Bent Larsen, and his first book on openings was Eduard Gufeld’s The Complete Dragon.
- Carlsen was coached at the Norwegian College of Elite Sport by the country’s top player, Grandmaster (GM) Simen Agdestein.
- He had surpassed the FIDE rating of 2800 at the age of 18 and was the then youngest player to achieve the feat.
- His favorite actor is Johnny Depp.
- In 2010, aged 19, he had reached the number 1 position in the FIDE world rankings for the first time, becoming the then youngest person ever to do so.
- Carlsen had an aggressive style of play as a youth. To progress, Carlsen’s style became more universal, capable of handling all sorts of positions well.
- From 2009 to 2013, he had won the Chess Oscar, a now-defunct international award presented annually to the best chess player in the world. In 2013, Time magazine named Carlsen one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
- In 2020, Carlsen announced that he had signed a two-year sponsorship deal with gambling company Unibet to act as a “global ambassador”.
- Magnus is an avid fan of football, with Real Madrid CF as his favourite club. Carlsen also follows the Premier League and plays fantasy football.
- In April 2022, Carlsen played poker at the Norwegian Championships Main Event and finished 25th out of 1050 players.
