Who is Magnus Carlsen?
Popularly known as the Mozart of chess, Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen is the current World Chess Champion. He was introduced to chess at the early age of 5 by his father and later became a grandmaster at 13. He holds the highest classical rating of all time, 2882.
He also won the Norwegian Chess Championship when he was 15 years old and finished joint first in the Corus Top Group when he was 17 years old.
He was the youngest person to be ranked first in the world by the International Chess Federation (FIDE), being 19 at the time.
Magnus Carlsen is not only one of the best players of his time, but he has already performed enough to cement his legacy as a legendary player for future generations.
Below are some facts you should know about Magnus Carlsen.
Quick Facts
| Full Name: | Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen |
| Popular Name: | Magnus Carlsen |
| Gender: | Male |
| Birth Date: | Nov. 30, 1990 |
| Age: | 32 years |
| Parents: | Sigrun Øen Carlsen (Mother), Henrik Albert Carlsen (Father) |
| Siblings: | Ingrid Carlsen, Signe Carlsen, Ellen Carlsen |
| Birth Place: | Tonsberg, Norway |
| Nationality: | Norwegian |
| Ethnicity: | Caucasian |
| Education: | Tartu State University |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Sexual Orientation: | Straight |
| Wife/Spouse: | None |
| Children: | None |
| Dating: | N/A |
| Net Worth: | $10 million |
| Source of Wealth: | Professional Chess Player, World Chess Champion |
| Height: | 5ft8 (1.78 m) |
| Weight: | 68 kg (150 lbs) |
Early life and Career Information
Magnus Carlsen was born on 30th November 1990 to Sigrun Øen Carlsen and Henrik Albert Carlsen. As a child, Carlsen was highly gifted and possessed a natural affinity for intellectual challenges. At the tender age of 2, he could solve 50 piece jigsaw puzzles all by himself, and at 4, he was assembling Lego sets meant for 10-14yr olds.
At the age of 5, his father introduced him to chess, and when he was 8, Carlsen participated in his first tournament, the youngest division of the 1999 Norwegian Chess Championship, and scored 6½/11.
He was coached at the Norwegian College of Elite Sport and received coaching from top chess players such as Simen Agdestein and Torbjørn Ringdal Hansen. In September 2000, he competed in the Norwegian junior teams’ championship and gained a tournament performance rating (TPR) of around 2000.
Carlsen was able to play nearly 300 rated tournament games between 2000 and 2002, launching his professional chess career. He first came to the limelight in 2004, at the age of 13, when he won the C group Corus Chess Tournament and scored 10.5/13. In April 2004, he earned a Grandmaster title after finishing second in the Dubai Open Chess Championship. In 2005, he was ranked 10th in the world after co-winning the Drammen International Chess Festival.
Carlsen rose to No. 1 on the FIDE rating list in 2009 after winning the London Chess Classic. His winning streak continued as he won the Corus chess tournament and the London Chess Classic in 2010. In 2011, Magnus won the Bazna Kings tournament, the Biel Grandmaster tournament, and the Tal Memorial.
He set a new personal record with a performance rating of 2835 despite failing to defend his London Chess Classic title. In 2012, Carlsen won the Grand Slam Chess Final and returned to first place at the London Chess Classic.
Magnus defeated Viswanathan Anand, the then World Chess champion in 2013, and became the new world chess champion and the second-youngest player to do so.
He won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament, the Grenke Chess Classic, and Shamkir Chess in 2015 and defended his title at the FIDE World Rapid Championships.
In 2016, Carlsen won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament again and also won Bilbao Masters Final. He later retained his World Champion title against Sergey Karjakin. In 2018, he kept his World Champion title for the fourth time, and in 2019 won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament for the seventh time and won several tournaments like the Grenke Chess Classic, the Côte d’Ivoire Rapid & Blitz, the Lindores Abbey Chess Stars Tournament, and Norway Chess.
In 2021, Carlsen retained his title and won his fifth World Chess Championship.
Carlson also won the Chess Oscars in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.
Magnus Carlsen’s Net Worth
Magnus Carlsen is arguably one of the best chess players of all time, and he has made a fortune from it. His net worth is estimated at $10 million, which he accumulated through winnings and sponsorships from companies like Microsoft and clothing brand G Star Raw. Magnus also created and released his mobile chess app, Play Magnus AS.
Magnus received a $13.5 million financing round for Play Magnus in early 2020, reducing his stake in the company to 16% while maintaining his role as the public face of Play Magnus AS.
Lessons From the Life of Magnus Carlsen
Don’t Be Afraid to Try New Things.
“I started by just sitting by the chessboard exploring things. I didn’t even have books at first, and I just played by myself.” ~ Magnus Carlsen.
Magnus initially had little interest in chess but kept an open mind and explored. While trying new things, he began to fall in love with chess and took his interest further. He enjoyed playing chess and didn’t allow anything to steal that joy from him.
Try new things; you never know what might come out of it.
Believe in Yourself
“Of course, analysis can sometimes give more accurate results than intuition, but usually it’s just a lot of work. I normally do what my intuition tells me to do. Most of the time spent thinking is just to double-check.” ~Magnus Carlsen.
For Magnus, there is no such thing as overconfidence. One thing you can learn from him is that you must always believe in yourself even if no one else does.
