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Birth of Magnus
Magnus Carlsen was born on November 30th, 1990 in Tønsberg, Norway. While he was young, his father introduced him to the game of chess. At first, Carlsen didn't enjoy the game as much as his father, but as he grew up, he began to enjoy it more and more. https://magnuscarlsen.com/about/ -
First Competition
Carlsen competed in his first chess tournament when he was only eight years old. Over the next two years, Carlsen competed in about 300 more chess tournaments. -
Leaving School
After Carlsen finished primary school, or middle school, he took a year off of school to travel around Europe and play chess in tournaments. While he was competing, was able to obtain the rank of International Master, as well as placing ninth in the World Under-14 Championship. -
Becoming a Grandmaster
In order to become a grandmaster, you must be nominated for three GM norms. In the Corus chess tournament, Carlsen was nominated for his first GM norm. He obtained his second GM norm at the Aeroflot Open. At the Dubai Open Chess Championship, Carlsen was nominated for his third and final GM norm at 14. He was the youngest grandmaster at the time. -
World Chess Cup
In December of 2007, Carlsen made his greatest run for World Chess Champion yet. He managed to make it all the way to semifinals, before getting knocked out of the competition. -
Highest Rating Ever
Magnus' chess rating increased from 2848 to 2861 after winning the London Chess Championship for the third time. The rating of 2861 surpassed the highest recorded rating of 2851 set in 1999 by Garry Kasparov. -
First World Chess Championship
In November of 2013, Magnus Carlsen became world chess champion for the first time in his life, beating Viswanathan Anand after a very stressful series that looked like Carlsen would lose. This is the first of many championships. -
The Highest Rating Ever Recorded
In May of 2014, Carlsen managed to hit the highest rating ever recorded for classic chess. The rating was 2882. The closest anyone has ever come to this was Garry Kasparov in 1999 with a rating of 2851. -
Defending The Title
In 2016 at the world chess championship, Carlsen managed to take down Sergey Karjakin and defend his title. He is now being recognized as the greatest chess player to ever live. -
Closest Championship Yet
In an extremely tense series, Carlsen was able to retain the title as world chess champion for the sixth time in a row. In the series, Carlsen tied all 12 games that he played with Fabiano Caruana, and was eventually able to beat him in the tie break games 3-0. Nobody had ever managed to tie all 12 games before, so this series was very closely watched by the public. -
