Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen, better known as Magnus Carlsen, is a chess prodigy who has bought a storm to the chess world, all before turning 30. He is a Norwegian chess grandmaster and the reigning world chess champion.
As his Twitter bio reads, he is “the highest-ranked chess player in the world, former (live) #1 Fantasy Premier League player.”
He started his chess journey before most of us began making our beds! Carlsen won his first world championship at the age of 13.
At the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, he made a professional decision to withdraw from the game against Hans Niemann in the third round.
Magnus resigned against the Niemann just after playing one move. He said he was frustrated and anticipated Niemann was “cheating.”
Professor Kenneth Regan of the University at Buffalo, New York, a “chess detective” and an independent expert on cheating, is taking the case into his study.
This article will discuss Magnus’s career, net worth, chess cups, and more. Let’s start with quick facts first!
Quick Facts
Let’s look at some quick facts about him before looking into his life in detail.
| Full Name | Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen |
| Birth Date | 30 November 1990 |
| Birth Place | Tønsberg, Vestfold, Norway |
| Nick Name | Magnus Carlsen |
| Religion | Unknown |
| Nationality | Norwegian |
| Ethnicity | Caucasian |
| Education | Tartu State University |
| IQ | 190 |
| Horoscope | Sagittarius |
| Father’s Name | Henrik Albert Carlse |
| Mother’s Name | Sigrun Øen |
| Siblings | Three sisters |
| Age | 33 years old |
| Height | 5’8″ (1.78m) |
| Weight | 68 kg / 149.914 lbs |
| Sexual Orientation | Straight |
| Hair Color | Light Brown |
| Eye Color | Brown |
| Body Measurement | Unknown |
| Build | Athletic |
| Marital Status | Not Married |
| Girlfriend | N/A |
| Children | None |
| Profession | Chess Grandmaster |
| Net Worth | $50 Million |
| Salary | N/A |
| Currently Works As | Professional Chess Player, World Champion |
| Affiliations | None |
| Active Since | 2002 – present |
| Social Media | Instagram, Twitter, Facebook |
| Last Update | April, 2024 |
Magnus Carlsen – Early Life, Education, Chess
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen was born on 30 November 1990 in Tønsberg Municipality, Norway, to an IT Consultant father Henrik Albert Carlsen, and a Chemical Engineer mother, Sigrun Øen.
They lived in Espoo, Finland, for a year and then in Brussels, Belgium, before moving back to Norway in 1998. They lived in Lommedalen, Bærum, and later moved to Haslum.
It was evident that Carlsen was an exceptional child; from constructing lego sets meant for 10-14-year-olds at age four to memorizing the area, population, flags, and capitals of all the countries in the world by age five.
He demonstrated intellectual advances that make him one of the smartest people in the world with an I.Q of 190.
His father, Hendrik, was an amateur chess player. Even though Magnus had little interest in the game, the thought of beating his older sister kept him going.
Later, he would sit and play by himself for hours to learn the combinations and strategies.
He also read various books and begin to enjoy the game truly. Thanks to his exceptional memory, he started getting good at it too.
He would practice and later show his father the things he had learned that day.
Early Chess Days
Magnus participated in his first-ever competition at the age of 8 years, in 1999, and scored a 6.5 on 11.
The Norwegian College of Elite Spor coached Carlsen through the country’s top player, Grandmaster Simer Agdestein.
By 2000, Carlsen’s rating increased from 904 in 1997 to 1907. He dominated almost all the matches he played and won against the country’s top-ranked junior players.
Apart from Chess, Carlsen also played football and read Donald Duck comics. He still loves to play football. Carlsen also skied until the age of 10.
Magnus frequently traveled to participate in competitions. He finished sixth in the European Under-12 Championship, Peñiscola, Spain. Next month, the same year, he was tied for first place in World Under-12 Championship, Herakolin coming second to Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Magnus Carlsen received three IM norms in January 2003, June 2003, and July 2003, respectively. He was awarded the title in August 2003, the same year.
Magnus Carlsen took a year off from school to participate in international chess tournaments held in Europe in 2003.
This year, he finished the Europe Under-13 competition by placing joint third and ninth in the World Under-14 Championship.
Magnus Carlsen – Professional Chess Career
Carlsen received international fame and attention after winning group C in the Corus Chess Tournament in Wijk ann Zee.
Another famous chess player, Grandmaster Lubomir Kavalek gave him the title of “Mozart of Chess” after this phenomenal win.
Magnus became a Grandmaster at 13 and had only been doing better.
He received his second Grandmaster Norm at Moscow in 2004. Carlsen was knocked out of the blitz chess tournament after drawing and losing to Garry Kasparov.
Magnus got his third and final Grandmaster Norm at the Dubai Open Chess Championship. This made him the second youngest Grandmaster in history at that time.
Magnus was also the youngest player to participate in FIDE World Chess Championship but was knocked out by Levon Aronian.
2005 was a terrific year for Magnus Carlsen. He participated in many competitions like Drammen International Chess Festival, Ciudad de León, the Norwegian Chess Championship, the Chess World Cup etcetera.
Carlsen succeeded in getting into the top 10 qualified to become a candidate for the Official World Championship.
Carlsen won his first Norwegian Chess Championship and became the youngest person ever to do so.
Later in 2006, we went on to win the big names in Chess like Vishwanathan Anand, Alexander Morozevich, etc., and went on to win the Glitnir Blitz Tournament in Iceland.
Onwards
Carlsen played in the Linares Chess Tournament in 2007 and won against many top-rated players like Vishwanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, Peter Svidler, Levon Aronian, Peter Leko, and Vassily Ivanchuk.
He did extremely well and came second in the competition.
Magnus Carlsen participated in the Melody Amber blind and rapid chess tournament in Monte Carlo in 2007.
He came ninth in the blindfold match and second in the rapid matches. He made it into the eighth position overall.
Carlsen again won the Biel Grandmaster Tournament with a score of 6/10 and a PR of 2753.
World Chess Cup’s semi-final
Immediately after this tournament, Carlsen took part in the Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø.
One of the games that attracted a lot of attention was when he competed and won against his own father, Henrik Carlsen.
Magnus successfully reached the World Chess Cup’s semi-final round when he defeated Micheal Adams and Ivan Cheparinov. He later lost to the eventual title winner, Gata Kamsky.
Magnus Carlsen landed in the Top group A at the 69th Corus Chess Tournament and shared with Levon Aronian.
He participated for the second time in the Melody Amber blind and Rapid Chess tournament in Nice, France. He placed second in the overall competition.
Carlsen qualified for the FIDE Grand Prix 2008-09, a qualifier for World Chess Championship 2012.
He dropped from the championship despite doing extremely well initially and claimed the reasons to be that FIDE dramatically changed the rules in the middle of a world championship cycle.
Carlsen participated in the 75th Tata Steel Chess Tournament and placed first with Aronian closely following.
He also participated in the 2013 Candidates tournament in London. He won the tournament too. This gave him the right to challenge Anand for the Chess Championship.
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Magnus Carlsen – World Chess Champion
The World Chess Championship 2013 happened in Chennai, India. Thanks to a small mistake made by Vishwanathan Anand, Carlsen was able to win the World Championship.
Despite being younger and having less experience than Anand, Carlsen was calm and collected and handled the pressure with ease.
In 2014, Carlsen and Anand had a rematch, in which Carlsen won and defended the World Championship again.
Carlsen had to defend his title against Sergey Karjakin in the World Chess Championship 2016.
Despite performing average in the first half of the game, Magnus came out strong and defended the title on his 26th birthday to remain the world champion.
Magnus managed to defend the World Championship yet again in 2018 when he competed against Fabiano Caruana in London. He defeated Fabiano in a rapid tiebreaker game.
Double Bongcloud
In March 2021, the match between Magnus Carlsen and Hikaru Nakamura saw a double Bongcloud in the mainstream.
Both of them qualified for the knockout stage of the competition, and after facing each other, the winner would be finalized.
Also, the match was the preliminary stage of the $200,000. Well, their hilarious move ended the match in a draw within six steps.
In the meantime, it also became the first double bong cloud ever played in a major tournament and its official entry to chess theory.
Sinquefield Cup 2022 | Niemann Hans | Cheating & Withdrawl
Magnus Carlsen has finally broken the silence through his Twitter post about his withdrawal in the third round against Niemann Hans during the Sinquefield Cup at Saint Louis Chess Club.
He stated, “I believe that Niemann has cheated more – and more recently – than he has publicly admitted.”
However, some people believe Carlsen cheated in the game which resulted in a stunning loss to 19-year-old up-and-comer Hans Niemann.
My statement regarding the last few weeks. pic.twitter.com/KY34DbcjLo
— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) September 26, 2022
In response to this, Niemann stated, “I have never cheated in an over-the-board game,” he said. “That is the worst thing I could do: cheat in a tournament with prize money.”
Magnus Carlsen – Award, Accolades, and Honors
- Carlsen won the Chess Oscars held by Russian Chess Magazine, 64, in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.
- Norwegian Tabloid, Verdens Gang, awarded him with “Name of the year,” twice in 2009 and 2013. They also named him “Sportsman of the Year.”
- In 2011, he was awarded the “Pete Gynt Award,” awarded to someone who has excelled in society.
- He made it into the “Times 100 Most Influential People in the World” list.
Other Business Endeavours
Magnus Carlsen has his hands on various other things apart from chess. He has worked as a model for G-Star Raw’s Fall/Winter 2010 collection along with Actress Liv Tyler.
Carlsen was also offered a role in Star Trek Into Darkness by director J.J. Abrams, but he couldn’t play the part because of visa issues.
In 2013, Carlsen co-founded a company called Play Magnus AS based in Norway. Their products include Play Magnus, Magnus Trainer, and the Magnus Kingdom of Chess.
He was also selected as one of the “Sexiest Men of 2013” by Cosmopolitan.
In 2020, Carlsen signed a sponsorship deal with Unibet’s gambling company for two years and became its global ambassador.
He is also the Chairman of the biggest chess club in Norway, Offerspill Chess Club.
Magnus Carlsen – Personal Life, Girlfriend, Net Worth
Magnus Carlsen is 30 years old, and despite regularly posting on social media, he is private about many aspects of his life.
There are only two girlfriends of Magnus that the public has come to know about.
His first public relationship was with Synn Christin Larsen, and they dated for a year before calling it off. They both have remained silent about the reason for their split.
His second public relationship was with Elisabet Lorentzen Djønne, a criminology student.
They dated in 2019, but we don’t know if they are still dating as he is pretty private about many aspects of his life.
He is an avid football fan and a die-hard follower of Real Madrid FC. He even plays fantasy football and even reached the no.1 spot in the Fantasy Premier League in 2019.
Magnus Carlsen has been subject to various documentaries and movies like The Prince of Chess, Magnus, etc. Carlsen has an estimated net worth of about $50 million.
Magnus Carlsen – Social Media
Carlsen is pretty active on social media as he has all major social media handles.
He regularly posts on all of these platforms and has a massive fan following there as well.
Facebook– 708K followers
Twitter– 801.5K followers
Instagram– 809K followers
View this post on Instagram
Magnus Carlsen – Popularity
As the World Chess Champion, Magnus is quite popular worldwide among the fans.
Moreover, he is handsome and carries a charismatic personality wherever he goes. The above graph shows the public interest in him since last year.
Magnus Carlsen – FAQs
Is Magnus Carlsen a genius? How accurate is he?
Yes, Magnus Carlsen is a genius with an IQ of 190 and an exceptional memory. Well, for his accuracy, Magnus features CAPS (Computer Aggregated Precision Score) of 98.54. Likewise, he depicts a top engine match of 85.26%.
Who is Magnus Carlsen dating?
It is not known for sure who he is dating but he has dated a few women in the past
How old was Magnus Carlsen when he became a Grandmaster? What is his chess record?
He was 13 years old when he became a grandmaster. Well, today Magnus presents 1227 wins, 1253 draws, and 438 losses. Also, his classical rating of 2882 is the highest ever in history. Today, with an Elo rating, Magnus stars at the top of the list.
What is Magnus Carlsen’s favorite chess opening move?
Often in his games, Magnus Carlsen provides various sophisticated moves however, at times he surprises his opponent with a basic move. Well, the most used chess opening move is 1…e5 against 1.e4.
Did Judit Poglar defeat Magnus Carlsen?
Initially, Judit Poglar won the first round against Magnus with black in their rapid clash. However, Carlsen won the second encounter which was played blindfolded.
Did Max Deutsch really beat Magnus Carlsen?
Initially, this became the talk everywhere stating Max won against Magnus. At the same time, he also joked about his retirement stating the outcome of the match.
However, later it was revealed that it was an April Fool’s joke.
Which is the shortest match of Magnus Carlsen’s?
Carlsen’s shortest match ended within just a minute.
Here’s a detailed look into his net worth and assets, Magnus Carlsen Net Worth: Charity, Houses & Earnings >>
