Who is Magnus Carlsen?

Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster who is the reigning five-time World Chess Champion. Carlsen is also a three-time World Rapid Chess Champion and five-time World Blitz Chess Champion.

A chess prodigy, Carlsen finished first in the C group of the Corus chess tournament shortly after he turned 13, and earned the title of grandmaster a few months later.

Known for his attacking style as a teenager, Carlsen has since developed into a universal player. He uses a variety of openings to make it more difficult for opponents to prepare against him and reduce the utility of pre-game computer analysis. His positional mastery and endgame prowess have drawn comparisons to former world champions Bobby Fischer, Anatoly Karpov, José Raúl Capablanca, and Vasily Smyslov.

At the 2021 World Chess Championship, Carlsen defeated challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi in Game 6 after drawing the first five games. It was the first decisive result in a World Chess Championship game in more than 5 years and at 136 moves was also the longest game in World Chess Championship history.