Meet Norwegian's "Justin Bieber" of Chess, Magnus Carlsen
Known as a former chess prodigy and Norwegian chess master, Magnus Carlsen has been the world's top ranked player and possesses the highest standard FIDE rating ever posted. Born in Tønsberg, Vestfold, Carlsen is the Norwegian "Justin Bieber" when he became a grandmaster at the age of 13 years and the second youngest grandmaster in history.
The 22-year-old chess genius was the World Blitz chess champion in 2009 and with a peak rating of 2872. At the age of 18-years-old, Carlsen became the fifth player to achieve a rating an Elo rating of 2801 and thanks to his impressive winning records he earned the right to challenge World Champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship.
Known for his attacking style, Magnus is notorious for his positional mastery and endgame prowess and it's not fond on focusing on opening preparations. His techniques are comparable to those of former world champions like Vasily Smyslov and Anatoly Karpov.
Dubbed as "the Mozart of chess" and was hailed as one of "the sexiest men of 2013" by Cosmopolitan, Magnus Carlsen is now earning around $1 million annually through sponsorship deals.
As a child, Magnus' father told The Guardian of his impressive feats of memory, "reciting countries, populations and so on, but that it wasn't until he was eight, when sibling rivalry drove him to beat his older sister at chess that he really began to focus on the game."
When asked about his epic winning moves, Magnus often used his intuition rather than computer-generated analysis. "Often I cannot explain a certain move, only know that it feels right, and it seems that my intuition is right more often than not," he told The Guardian.
When asked if he is a genius he humbly said no and told The Guardian that he is just really, really good on what he do. "I'm fortunate to do something I love, but I'm not a genius," he said.
A laid back kind of guy and prefers not to have any conflicts. "I am also determined when it comes to chess. I don't like conflicts, apart from on the board. In general I am very different to how I am on the board," he said.