The Memory Monster: Magnus Carlsen

Photo: Autopilot / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

By the age of five, Magnus Carlsen could tell you the flag, the capital and the population of every country in the world. His father, a keen amateur chess player, taught him the moves at that age too. Magnus was not very interested.

A few years later that changed, and it changed fast. Here is his story, the game that made the chess world notice him at 13, and five more of his early games you can study.

Puzzles, Lego and a Big Sister

Magnus was born on November 30, 1990, in Tønsberg, Norway. His family lived for a while in Finland and Belgium before moving back to Norway in 1998. He loved puzzles from the start. At two he could put together 50-piece jigsaw puzzles. At four he was building Lego sets made for children aged 10 to 14.

He has three sisters. Magnus has said that what first made him study chess seriously was wanting to beat his older sister.

He learned a lot by playing on his own. His first tournament was the youngest section of the Norwegian Championship in 1999, when he was eight years and seven months old. He scored 6 points out of 11.

From 904 to Grandmaster

Magnus was coached at the Norwegian College of Elite Sport by Simen Agdestein, Norway's top player. In June 2000 his rating was 904. Over the following year it climbed to 1907. He studied about three or four hours a day, and still found time for football and Donald Duck comics.

• In November 2002 he tied for first in the World Under-12 Championship, and was placed second behind Ian Nepomniachtchi on tiebreak.
• In 2003 he earned three International Master norms, results that count toward the title, and became an International Master in August 2003, at 12.
• In January 2004, at 13, he won the C group of the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, with 10½ points out of 13. That was his first grandmaster norm.
• In April 2004, at the Dubai Open, he earned his third grandmaster norm and became a grandmaster at 13. At the time only Sergey Karjakin had done it younger.

The Wijk aan Zee win made headlines, and one game above all. Writing in The Washington Post, the grandmaster Lubomir Kavalek called Magnus "the Mozart of chess". Here is that game.

The Game: Magnus Carlsen vs. Sipke Ernst, Wijk aan Zee 2004

Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Sipke Ernst Corus tournament, group C, Wijk aan Zee · Round 12 · January 24, 2004 White: Magnus Carlsen, age 13 · Black: Sipke Ernst

This was the second-to-last round. Ernst was a Dutch player rated almost the same as Carlsen.

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bf4 Ngf6 12.O-O-O Be7 13.Ne4 Qa5 14.Kb1 O-O 15.Nxf6+ Nxf6 16.Ne5 Rad8 17.Qe2 c5

The kings are on opposite sides. Carlsen castled long, to the queenside, and Ernst castled short. Look at the white pawn on h5 and the rook behind it on h1. They are already pointing at the black king.

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After 17...c5, White to move. The white knight on e5 can jump to g6, where a pawn can take it. What would that open up?

Analyze this position in the full game

Three Pieces for the King

18.Ng6

The knight jumps to g6. It attacks the rook on f8 and the bishop on e7, and the f7 pawn can take it. Our Stockfish 16 check rates 18.Ng6 as White's best move. Ernst took it, which our engine rates as worse than moving his rook with 18...Rfe8.

18...fxg6 19.Qxe6+ Kh8 20.hxg6 Ng8

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After 20...Ng8, White to move. The pawn on g6 is right next to the black king. White's rook on h1 looks at the pawn on h6. Our engine finds one strong move here.

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21.Bxh6 gxh6 22.Rxh6+ Nxh6

Carlsen gives up his bishop, then his rook. Our engine rates both as the best moves. After 21...gxh6, 22.Rxh6+ was the only move that kept White ahead. Count the material now. Carlsen has given up a knight, a bishop and a rook. He is seven points behind.

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After 22...Nxh6, White to move. White is seven points of material behind. But look at the black king on h8: its pawns are gone, and the white pawn on g6 and queen on e6 are right next to it.

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23.Qxe7 Nf7 24.gxf7 Kg7 25.Rd3 Rd6

Carlsen's queen takes the bishop on e7, and his pawn captures on f7. Now the last white rook swings over along the third rank.

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After 25...Rd6, White to move. The rook on d3 can slide to g3 with check. The pawn on f7 and the queen on e7 are next to the black king.

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26.Rg3+ Rg6 27.Qe5+ Kxf7 28.Qf5+ Rf6 29.Qd7#

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Final position after 29.Qd7, checkmate. The queen gives check along the seventh row and also covers e6 and e8. The rook on g3 covers g6, g7 and g8. Black's own rooks block f8 and f6.

Analyze this position in the full game

Checkmate. Carlsen finished the game still behind in material. His pieces were simply closer to the enemy king than Black's pieces were.

Five More Carlsen Games to Study

These five games cover the 15 months before he became a grandmaster. Set each one up on a board, or play through it on your computer, and look for the idea in the note. The engine numbers come from our own Stockfish 16, searching to depth 20.

• Mark Bluvshtein vs. Magnus Carlsen, Gausdal, January 15, 2003 (0-1). From the event where he earned his first International Master norm, at 12. He was rated 182 points lower. Look at 37...Rh1+: the rook gives itself up, and after 38.Kxh1 the only legal move, 38...Qe1+ checks the king and attacks the rook on d2. After 39.Kh2 Qxd2 Black has won it back. Then watch Black's a-pawn in the long endgame.
• Mikheil Gagunashvili vs. Magnus Carlsen, Wijk aan Zee, January 18, 2004 (0-1). A lesson in defending. Our engine rates Gagunashvili, a grandmaster rated 99 points higher, clearly better around move 30. Carlsen keeps his pieces together and waits. Late in the game, 40...Rc3 attacks the white queen. After 41.Qxc3 Qxc3 Black has given a rook and won a queen.
• Magnus Carlsen vs. Sergey Dolmatov, Aeroflot Open, Moscow, February 19, 2004 (1-0). From the event of his second grandmaster norm. Dolmatov's king is stuck in the middle on d8. 14.Rxe7 gives up a rook for a bishop to tear open the lines around it. Our engine rates it as White's best move. The game is over by move 19.
• Magnus Carlsen vs. Garry Kasparov, Reykjavík, March 18, 2004 (½-½). A rapid game, played with less time on the clock, against the world's top-rated player. Carlsen was 13. Our engine rates Carlsen better for much of the game, as much as nearly two pawns after 21...Nxe4+. Kasparov held the draw, then won their second game.
• Magnus Carlsen vs. Evgeny Vladimirov, Dubai, April 22, 2004 (1-0). From the Dubai Open, where he completed the grandmaster title. 27.Nxg7+ gives up the knight to strip away Black's kingside pawns. Our engine picks it as White's best move. After 29.Qxh6 the white queen is deep in Black's camp, and the game ends with 35.Qb4+.

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Carlsen vs. Dolmatov, Moscow 2004, after 13...Kd8, White to move. The black king has not castled. The white rook on e1 faces the bishop on e7. Take that bishop away and the lines around the black king start to open.

Analyze this positionReview the full game

Why Carlsen Still Matters

Carlsen became world champion in 2013 and has been number one in the world rankings since July 2011, the longest run in a row in history. But his early years show something every young player can use. He did not start as the most interested child. He started by liking puzzles, and a big sister gave him a reason to get better.

A Habit to Practice

Set up the position after 20...Ng8 and try to find Carlsen's plan before looking. Count what White gives up and what Black's king has left around it. Then play through the rest of the game and see how every white piece joins the attack.