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    Magnus Carlsen
    2023. Photo: Frans Peeters Photography, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

    16THWorld chess champion

    Magnus Carlsen

    Magnus Carlsen was world champion 2013–2023, for 10 years. He won the title in 2013, beating Viswanathan Anand 6½–3½ in Chennai.

    Born
    30 November 1990 (age 35) · Tønsberg, Norway
    Learned chess
    Taught by his father Henrik Carlsen, a keen amateur player
    Profiles
    FIDE World Chess MuseumFIDE ratingsWikipedia
    10 years
    World champion
    5 of 5
    Title events won or kept
    2882
    Peak FIDE rating, May 2014
    2866
    On today's scale: 8th of 18

    Every title event

    YearOpponentScoreResultGamesWhere
    2013Viswanathan Anand6½–3½Won+3 −0 =7Chennai
    2014Viswanathan Anand6½–4½Won+3 −1 =7Sochi
    2016Sergey Karjakin6–6 / 3–1Won+1 −1 =10tiebreak +2 −0 =2New York City
    2018Fabiano Caruana6–6 / 3–0Won+0 −0 =12tiebreak +3 −0 =0London
    2021Ian Nepomniachtchi7½–3½Won+4 −0 =7Dubai

    Across 5 title matches, Carlsen won 11 games, lost 2 and drew 43: a score of 58% of the points against the best player of his day.

    Scores are listed winner first; a dash means the match wasn't played or was a tournament. Games are won, lost and drawn (+ − =) from Carlsen's side, counted from chessgames.com and shown only where they add up to the official score. Source: Wikipedia, List of World Chess Championships.

    Honours

    5
    World championship titles

    2013, 2014, 2016, 2018, 2021

    1
    Candidates wins

    2013

    1
    FIDE World Cup

    2023

    6
    World rapid titles

    2014, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2025

    9
    World blitz titles

    2009, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024*, 2025

    1
    National championships

    2006

    5
    Chess Oscars

    2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

    Each year links to its source. * Shared title. World championship titles are title events won or kept. Olympiad board golds are the best score on a board. Most of these events didn't exist before the 1920s.

    Compare all 18 champions' honours

    Impact at home: Norway

    • PlayersCoached at the Norwegian College of Elite Sport by Simen Agdestein, Norway's top player source
    • HonoursReceived the Peer Gynt Prize in 2011, given each year for distinction in Norwegian society source
    • InstitutionsPlayed in the first Norway Chess tournament source
    • GrowthWon his first Norwegian championship in 2006, in a rapid playoff source

    Norway had 10 grandmasters when Carlsen became world champion in 2013. By 2023 Norway had 17, and by October 2026, 20.

    Measure2013when he became champion2023ten years on2026October 2026
    Grandmasters101720
    In the world top 1001 Jan 2013 list2 Jan 2023 list3 Nov 2026 list

    Norway grandmasters, 1980–2026

    0510152019801990200020102020Carlsen champion

    Move over the chart to see any year.

    Grandmasters by the year FIDE gave the title, from Wikipedia's list of all 2,162 grandmasters (October 2026). Top 100 from FIDE's rating lists (OlimpBase to 2001, then FIDE); FIDE's lists begin in 1971. These numbers show what happened around each champion, not what he caused: many things grow a country's chess.

    Rivalries

    Anand v CarlsenTitle events 2013, 2014

    20 wins82 draws · 143 games41 wins

    How strong was Carlsen?

    His highest official rating was 2882, on FIDE's May 2014 list, as world No. 1: 1st of the 8 champions from Fischer on, whose peaks fall on FIDE's lists.

    That month the best other player was Levon Aronian, at 2815: Carlsen was 67 points clear. The top 10 averaged 2792; on today's scale (FIDE's Nov 2026 top 10 average 2777) his peak is about 2866, 8th of the 18 champions. How this is worked out.

    23002400250026002700280029003000200420082012201620202024Peak 2882 · May 2014
    FIDE standard rating on each list where Magnus Carlsen was in the world top 100, and FIDE's own monthly record from April 2003. Sources: OlimpBase, FIDE.
    Every month as a table
    FIDE listRating
    Nov 20262823
    Oct 20262823
    Sep 20262823
    Aug 20262823
    Jul 20262823
    Jun 20262841
    May 20262840
    Apr 20262840
    Mar 20262840
    Feb 20262840
    Jan 20262840
    Dec 20252840
    Nov 20252839
    Oct 20252839
    Sep 20252839
    Aug 20252839
    Jul 20252839
    Jun 20252837
    May 20252837
    Apr 20252837
    Mar 20252833
    Feb 20252833
    Jan 20252831
    Dec 20242831
    Nov 20242831
    Oct 20242831
    Sep 20242832
    Aug 20242832
    Jul 20242832
    Jun 20242830
    May 20242830
    Apr 20242830
    Mar 20242830
    Feb 20242830
    Jan 20242830
    Dec 20232830
    Nov 20232829
    Oct 20232839
    Sep 20232839
    Aug 20232835
    Jul 20232835
    Jun 20232853
    May 20232853
    Apr 20232853
    Mar 20232852
    Feb 20232852
    Jan 20232859
    Dec 20222859
    Nov 20222859
    Oct 20222856
    Sep 20222861
    Aug 20222864
    Jul 20222864
    Jun 20222864
    May 20222864
    Apr 20222864
    Mar 20222864
    Feb 20222865
    Jan 20222865
    Dec 20212856
    Nov 20212855
    Oct 20212855
    Sep 20212855
    Aug 20212847
    Jul 20212847
    Jun 20212847
    May 20212847
    Apr 20212847
    Mar 20212847
    Feb 20212862
    Jan 20212862
    Dec 20202862
    Nov 20202862
    Oct 20202863
    Sep 20202863
    Aug 20202863
    Jul 20202863
    Jun 20202863
    May 20202863
    Apr 20202863
    Mar 20202862
    Feb 20202862
    Jan 20202872
    Dec 20192872
    Nov 20192870
    Oct 20192876
    Sep 20192876
    Aug 20192882
    Jul 20192872
    Jun 20192875
    May 20192861
    Apr 20192845
    Mar 20192845
    Feb 20192845
    Jan 20192835
    Dec 20182835
    Nov 20182835
    Oct 20182839
    Sep 20182839
    Aug 20182842
    Jul 20182842
    Jun 20182843
    May 20182843
    Apr 20182843
    Mar 20182843
    Feb 20182843
    Jan 20182834
    Dec 20172837
    Nov 20172837
    Oct 20172826
    Sep 20172827
    Aug 20172822
    Jul 20172822
    Jun 20172832
    May 20172832
    Apr 20172838
    Mar 20172838
    Feb 20172838
    Jan 20172840
    Dec 20162840
    Nov 20162853
    Oct 20162853
    Sep 20162857
    Aug 20162857
    Jul 20162855
    Jun 20162855
    May 20162851
    Apr 20162851
    Mar 20162851
    Feb 20162844
    Jan 20162844
    Dec 20152834
    Nov 20152850
    Oct 20152850
    Sep 20152853
    Aug 20152853
    Jul 20152853
    Jun 20152876
    May 20152876
    Apr 20152863
    Mar 20152863
    Feb 20152865
    Jan 20152862
    Dec 20142862
    Nov 20142863
    Oct 20142863
    Sep 20142870
    Aug 20142877
    Jul 20142877
    Jun 20142881
    May 20142882
    Apr 20142881
    Mar 20142881
    Feb 20142872
    Jan 20142872
    Dec 20132872
    Nov 20132870
    Oct 20132870
    Sep 20132862
    Aug 20132862
    Jul 20132862
    Jun 20132864
    May 20132868
    Apr 20132872
    Mar 20132872
    Feb 20132872
    Jan 20132861
    Dec 20122848
    Nov 20122848
    Oct 20122843
    Sep 20122843
    Aug 20122837
    Jul 20122837
    May 20122835
    Mar 20122835
    Jan 20122835
    Nov 20112826
    Sep 20112823
    Jul 20112821
    May 20112815
    Mar 20112815
    Jan 20112814
    Nov 20102802
    Sep 20102826
    Jul 20102826
    May 20102813
    Mar 20102813
    Jan 20102810
    Nov 20092801
    Sep 20092772
    Jul 20092772
    Apr 20092770
    Jan 20092776
    Oct 20082786
    Jul 20082775
    Apr 20082765
    Jan 20082733
    Oct 20072714
    Jul 20072710
    Apr 20072693
    Jan 20072690
    Oct 20062698
    Jul 20062675
    Apr 20062646
    Jan 20062625
    Oct 20052570
    Jul 20052528
    Apr 20052548
    Jan 20052553
    Oct 20042581
    Jul 20042567
    Apr 20042552
    Jan 20042484
    Oct 20032450
    Jul 20032385
    Apr 20032356

    The road to the title

    1. 1999-07

      Norwegian Chess Championship (youngest division)[1]

      Scored 6/11

      His first rated tournament

    2. 2000-09

      Norwegian junior teams championship[1]

      Scored 3½/5 with TPR ~2000

      Breakthrough against top junior players

    3. 2003-08

      FIDE title award[1]

      IM title

      Awarded on 20 August 2003

    4. 2004-01

      Corus Group C, Wijk aan Zee[1]

      10½/13, first GM norm

      Performance rating 2702; his only loss was to the top seed

    5. 2004-02

      Moscow Aeroflot Open[1]

      Second GM norm

      Second GM norm achieved in massive open

    6. 2004-03

      Reykjavík blitz tournament[1]

      Defeated Anatoly Karpov

      Victory over a former World Champion at age 13

    7. 2004-04

      Dubai Open[1]

      Third GM norm

      Made him the world's youngest grandmaster at the time

    8. 2007-03

      Linares chess tournament[1]

      Tied for second place with 7½/14

      Performance rating of 2778 against elite field

    9. 2007-08

      Biel Grandmaster Tournament[1]

      Won with 6/10

      Performance rating 2753

    10. 2008-01

      Corus Group A, Wijk aan Zee[1]

      Joint first place

      His first win in an elite tournament, at 17

    11. 2009-10

      Pearl Spring, Nanjing[1]

      Won with a 3002 performance

      The youngest at the time to pass 2800, at 18

    12. 2010-01

      FIDE world rankings[1]

      World No. 1

      The youngest world No. 1 ever

    13. 2013-01

      FIDE rating record[1]

      Reached 2861

      Passed Kasparov's record of 2851 from July 1999

    14. 2013-11

      World Championship match in Chennai[1]

      Beat Viswanathan Anand

      Became World Chess Champion

    What Carlsen changed about chess

    • strategyHis style became universal, able to handle all sorts of positions well.[1]
    • openingHas played a wide range of openings, to make preparing against him harder and reduce the effect of computer analysis.[1]
    • otherOne computer study ranked him highest among world champions for how often he chose the engine's top move.[1]
    • popularityLaunched a chess app, saying he wanted it to encourage more people to play chess.[1]

    Achievements

    • 2013–2023World champion 2013–2023, defending against Karjakin (2016), Caruana (2018) and Nepomniachtchi (2021)[1]
    • 2014-06World Rapid and World Blitz champion in 2014: the first to hold all three world titles at once[1]
    • Record for the longest unbeaten streak at elite level in classical chess[1]
    • 2023-08FIDE World Cup Champion[1]
    • 2026FIDE Freestyle Chess World Champion[1]

    Famous games

    • Magnus Carlsen v Ian Nepomniachtchi, World Chess Championship 2021, game 6 2021 · 1-0[2]

      At 136 moves, the longest game in world championship history; it took 7 hours 45 minutes.

      Ian Nepomniachtchi
      Magnus Carlsen

      Start position

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      136. 136.
      137. 1-0

      Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).

      Game score: en.wikipedia.org

    • Magnus Carlsen v Veselin Topalov, M-Tel Masters 2009 · 1-0[1]

      Carlsen's first victory against an active 2800+ rated player, defeating former FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov.

      Veselin Topalov
      Magnus Carlsen

      Start position

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      37. 1-0

      Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).

      Game score: chessgames.com

    • Magnus Carlsen v Viswanathan Anand, Bilbao Masters 2012 · 1-0[1]

      Against the reigning champion, Carlsen sacrificed a pawn to cramp Black's position; Anand resigned at move 30.

      Viswanathan Anand
      Magnus Carlsen

      Start position

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      31. 1-0

      Arrow keys step through the moves; click any move to jump to it. Pieces by Colin M. L. Burnett (BSD licence).

      Game score: chessgames.com

    In his words

    "The best way to deal with losing is not to lose."[3]
    "When did I understand it was a draw? I understood it immediately. That doesn't mean you shouldn't play."[3]
    "I get more upset at losing at other things than chess. I always get upset when I lose at Monopoly."[3]

    More on Magnus Carlsen

    Quick answers

    When was Magnus Carlsen world chess champion?

    2013–2023: 10 years. He won the title in 2013, beating Viswanathan Anand 6½–3½ in Chennai.

    What was Magnus Carlsen's highest FIDE rating?

    2882, on FIDE's May 2014 list, when he was world No. 1. That is 1st of the 8 champions from Fischer on.

    Sources

    1. [1] en.wikipedia.org: "He participated in his first tournament—the youngest division of the 1999 Norwegian Chess Championship—at 8 years and 7 months, and scored 6/11."
    2. [2] en.wikipedia.org: "defeated the challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi in 136 moves, which made it the longest game in the history of the world chess championship."
    3. [3] en.wikiquote.org: "The best way to deal with losing is not to lose."