LaviChess

Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen of Norway was world champion from 2013 to 2023 and then chose not to defend the title. His highest rating, 2882, is the highest anyone has ever had. He has been world number one without a break since July 2011.

  • BornNovember 30, 1990, Tønsberg, Norway
  • CountryNorway
  • World champion2013–2023
  • In the line of championsNo. 16 of 18
  • Highest rating2882 (May 2014)
    Again in August 2019
    FIDE's official lists (from July 1971)

The road to the title

Carlsen learned chess from his father and made his international breakthrough in 2004, at 13. The same year he became a grandmaster. In January 2010 he became world number one, aged 19, and in 2013 he won the Candidates tournament in London. That November he beat Viswanathan Anand in Chennai without losing a game.

The title matches

Carlsen's points come first, then wins (+), losses (−) and draws (=) in the classical games. A rapid tiebreak is given separately.
YearAgainstResultWhere
2013Viswanathan Anand6½–3½ (+3 −0 =7)
Won the title		Chennai
2014Viswanathan Anand6½–4½ (+3 −1 =7)
Kept the title		Sochi
2016Sergey Karjakin6–6 (+1 −1 =10), tiebreak 3–1
Kept the title		New York
2018Fabiano Caruana6–6 (+0 −0 =12), tiebreak 3–0
Kept the title		London
2021Ian Nepomniachtchi7½–3½ (+4 −0 =7)
Kept the title		Dubai

How he plays

Carlsen can play every kind of position, quiet or sharp. His greatest strength is patience: he can press in a level endgame for hours until his opponent makes a mistake. In the sixth game of the 2021 title match he won after 136 moves, the longest game in the history of title matches.

Five title matches

Carlsen defended the title four times. Against Sergey Karjakin in 2016 and Fabiano Caruana in 2018 the classical games ended 6–6, and both times he won in rapid chess. Against Karjakin he finished with a queen sacrifice, in the game you can replay here.

Afterward

In the summer of 2022 Carlsen announced that he would not defend the title, and in 2023 the world got a new champion, Ding Liren. Between 2018 and 2020 Carlsen played more than a hundred classical games in a row without losing. He has kept winning world titles in rapid and blitz, and he is still number one on FIDE's list of November 2026.

Carlsen's games here

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Carlsen vs. Karjakin, 2016 World Championship. After 49.Rc8+: the rook gives check, and the next move is the queen sacrifice.

Sources

  • Wikipedia: Magnus Carlsen
  • Store norske leksikon: Magnus Carlsen
  • FIDE: Carlsen's rating history and the top list of November 2026
  • PGN Mentor: the title matches' games 2013–2021

The facts on this page come from the sources above, checked against each other. Where the sources disagree, only what they agree on is given. The match results are also checked against the games themselves.

Updated November 8, 2026