title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In July and August, Carlsen won the Biel Grandmaster Tournament with a 6/10 record and a PR of 2753. His score was matched by Alexander Onischuk and they played a match to break the tie. After drawing two rapid and two blitz games, Carlsen won the armageddon game. Immediately after the Biel tournament, Carlsen entered the open Arctic Chess Challenge in Tromsø, but his fourth-place result with +5=4 was a slight underperformance in terms of rating. In the first round, Carlsen conceded a draw to his classmate Brede Hagen (rated 2034) after having a lost position at one point. A game which attracted some attention was his sixth-round win over his father, Henrik Carlsen.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen reached the semi-final round of the World Chess Cup in December, after defeating Michael Adams in the round of 16 and Ivan Cheparinov in the quarterfinals. In the semi-final, he was eliminated by the eventual winner, Gata Kamsky, scoring ½–1½.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In the top group A of the 69th Corus chess tournament, Carlsen scored 8/13, achieving a PR of 2830. Carlsen won five games, lost two and drew six, sharing first place with Levon Aronian. At the Linares chess tournament, Carlsen had another 2800+ PR, scoring 8/14. He finished in sole second place, ½ point behind the winner World Champion Viswanathan Anand.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In March, Carlsen played for the second time in the Melody Amber blind and rapid chess tournament, held in Nice for the first time. In the 11 rounds he achieved four wins, four draws and two losses in the blindfold, and three wins, two losses, and six draws in the rapid. This resulted in a shared fifth place in the blindfold, shared third place in the rapid and a shared second place in the overall tournament.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen was one of 21 players in the six-tournament FIDE Grand Prix 2008–2010, a qualifier for the World Chess Championship 2012. In the first tournament, in Baku, Azerbaijan, he finished in a three-way tie for first place, with another 2800 PR. He later withdrew from the Grand Prix cycle despite his initial success, criticising FIDE for "changing the rules dramatically in the middle of a World Championship cycle".


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen won a rapid match against Peter Leko held in Miskolc, Hungary, scoring 5–3. In June, Carlsen won the annual Aerosvit chess tournament, finishing undefeated with 8/11 in a category 19 field and achieving a PR of 2877, his best PR at that point in his career. Playing in the category 18 Biel Grandmaster Tournament, Carlsen finished third with 6/10, with a PR of 2740.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In the Mainz World Rapid Chess Championship, Carlsen finished in second place after losing the final to defending champion Anand 3–1. In the qualification round Carlsen scored 1½–½ against Judit Polgár, 1–1 against Anand and 1–1 against Alexander Morozevich. In the category 22 Bilbao Masters, Carlsen tied for second with a 2768 PR.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Playing in Group A of the 71st Corus chess tournament, Carlsen tied for fifth with a 2739 PR. In the Linares chess tournament, Carlsen finished third with a 2777 PR. Carlsen tied for second place with Veselin Topalov at the M-Tel Masters (category 21) tournament in Sofia, Bulgaria. He lost to eventual winner Alexei Shirov in their final game, dropping him from first.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen won the category 21 Nanjing Pearl Spring tournament, 2½ points ahead of second-place finisher Topalov, the world's highest-rated player at the time. He scored an undefeated 8/10, winning every game as white (against Topalov, Wang Yue, Leko, Teimour Radjabov, and Dmitry Jakovenko), and also winning as black against Jakovenko. By rating performance, this was one of the greatest results in history, with a PR of 3002. Chess statistician Jeff Sonas has declared it one of the 20 best tournament performances of all time, and the best chess performance of all time by a teenager.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In the Tal Memorial, played from 5 to 14 November, Carlsen started with seven straight draws, but finished with wins over former FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov and Peter Leko. This result put Carlsen in shared second place behind former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik and equal with Ivanchuk. After the Tal Memorial, Carlsen won the World Blitz Championship, played from 16 to 18 November in Moscow, Russia. His score of 28 wins, 6 draws and 8 losses left him three points ahead of Anand, who finished in second place.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen entered the London Chess Classic as the top seed in a field including Kramnik, Hikaru Nakamura, Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Ni Hua, Luke McShane and David Howell. He defeated Kramnik in round one and went on to win the tournament with 13/21 (three points were awarded for a win, and one for a draw; using classical scoring he finished with 5/7) and a PR of 2844, one point ahead of Kramnik. This victory propelled him to of the FIDE rating list, surpassing Veselin Topalov.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Based on his average ranking from the July 2009 and January 2010 FIDE lists, Carlsen qualified for the Candidates Tournament that would determine the challenger to World Champion Viswanathan Anand in the World Chess Championship 2012. In November 2010, however, Carlsen announced he was withdrawing from the Candidates Tournament. Carlsen described the 2008–12 cycle as "[not] sufficiently modern and fair", and wrote that "Reigning champion privileges, the long (five-year) span of the cycle, changes made during the cycle resulting in a new format (Candidates) that no World Champion has had to go through since Kasparov, puzzling ranking criteria as well as the shallow ceaseless match-after-match concept are all less than satisfactory in my opinion."


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In early 2009 Carlsen engaged former World Champion Garry Kasparov as a personal trainer. In September their partnership was revealed to the public by Norwegian newspapers.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Responding to a question in an interview with "Time" magazine in December 2009 as to whether he used computers when studying chess, Carlsen explained that he does not use a chess set when studying on his own.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen won the 72nd Corus chess tournament played 16–31 January with 8½ points. His ninth-round loss to Kramnik ended a streak of 36 rated games undefeated. Carlsen appeared to struggle in the last round against Fabiano Caruana, but saved a draw, leaving him half a point ahead of Kramnik and Shirov.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In March it was announced that Carlsen had split from Kasparov and would no longer use him as a trainer, although this was put into different context by Carlsen himself in an interview with the German magazine "Der Spiegel", in which he stated that they would remain in contact and he would continue to attend training sessions with Kasparov. In 2011, Carlsen said: "Thanks to [Kasparov] I began to understand a whole class of positions better. ... Kasparov gave me a great deal of practical help." In 2012, when asked what he learnt from working with Kasparov, Carlsen answered: "Complex positions. That was the most important thing."


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen shared first place alongside Ivanchuk in the Amber blindfold and rapid tournament. Scoring 6½/11 in the blindfold and 8/11 in the rapid, Carlsen accumulated 14½ from a possible 22 points. In May it was revealed that Carlsen had helped Anand prepare for the World Chess Championship 2010 against challenger Veselin Topalov, which Anand won 6½–5½ to retain the title. Carlsen had also helped Anand prepare for the World Chess Championships in 2007 and 2008.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen played in the Bazna Kings Tournament in Romania on 14–25 June. The tournament was a double round robin involving Wang Yue, Boris Gelfand, Ruslan Ponomariov, Teimour Radjabov, and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu. He finished with 7½/10 and a 2918 PR, winning the tournament by two points ahead of Radjabov and Gelfand. Carlsen then played in a rapid tournament 28–30 August at the Arctic Securities Chess Stars tournament in Kristiansund, Norway. The field featured World Champion Viswanathan Anand, female world Judit Polgár, and Jon Ludvig Hammer. In the preliminary round robin, Carlsen scored 3½/6 to qualify for the final, second behind Anand. In the final, Carlsen defeated Anand 1½–½ to win the championship. Following this event, Carlsen suffered setbacks in his next two tournaments. In the 39th Chess Olympiad from 19 September to 4 October, he scored 4½/8, losing three games, to Baadur Jobava, Michael Adams, and Sanan Sjugirov; these were his first losses with the black pieces in more than a year. His team, Norway, finished 51st out of 149 teams.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen's next tournament was the Grand Slam Masters Final on 9–15 October, which he had qualified for automatically by winning three of the previous year's four Grand Slam chess events (2009 Nanjing Pearl Spring, 2010 Corus, 2010 Bazna Kings). Along with Carlsen, the finals consisted of World Champion Anand and the highest two scorers from the preliminary stage held in Shanghai in September: Kramnik and Shirov. The average Elo of the participants at the time was 2789, making the Grand Slam Final the strongest chess tournament in history. In the first round, Carlsen lost with black to Kramnik; this was Carlsen's second consecutive loss to Kramnik, and placed his hold on the world ranking in serious jeopardy. In his second round, Carlsen lost with the white pieces to Anand; this was his first loss as White since January 2010. Carlsen recovered somewhat in the latter part of the tournament, achieving a win over Shirov, and finishing with 2½/6. The tournament was won by Kramnik with 4/6. Carlsen finished this tournament with a rating of 2802, two points behind Anand at 2804 who temporarily ended Carlsen's reign at world . These setbacks called into question from some whether Carlsen's activities outside chess, such as modelling for G-Star Raw, were distracting him from performing well at the chessboard. Carlsen said he did not believe there was a direct connection.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen's next tournament was the Pearl Spring chess tournament on 19–30 October in Nanjing, China, against Anand, Topalov, Vugar Gashimov, Wang Yue, and Étienne Bacrot. This was the only tournament in 2010 to feature Anand, Carlsen and Topalov, at the time the top three players in the world, and was the first tournament in history to feature three players rated at least 2800. With early wins over Bacrot, Wang Yue, and Topalov with white, Carlsen took the early lead, extending his winning streak with white in Nanjing to eight. This streak was halted by a draw to Anand in round seven, but in the penultimate round Carlsen secured first place by defeating Topalov with black. This was his second victory in the tournament over the former world ; his final score of 7/10 (with a PR of 2903) was a full point ahead of runner-up Anand.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: On 5 November, Carlsen withdrew from the 2011 Candidates Tournament, having qualified as the highest rated challenger, citing dissatisfaction with the World Championship cycle format.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In the World Blitz Championship, held in Moscow on 16–18 November, Carlsen attempted to defend his 2009 title. With a score of 23½/38, he finished in third place behind Radjabov and winner Levon Aronian. After the tournament, Carlsen played a private 40-game blitz match against Hikaru Nakamura, winning with a score of 24½–15½.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen won the London Chess Classic on 8–15 December in a field comprising World Champion Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Nakamura, and British players Adams, Nigel Short, David Howell, and Luke McShane. Carlsen had a rocky start, losing his games to McShane and Anand in rounds 1 and 3, but winning with white against Adams and Nakamura in rounds 2 and 4. He joined the lead with a win over Howell in round 5, and managed to stay in the lead following a harrowing draw against Kramnik in round 6, before defeating Short in the last round. Since the tournament was played with three points for a win, Carlsen's +4−2=1 score put him ahead of Anand and McShane who scored +2=5 (a more traditional two-points-for-a-win system would have yielded a three-way tie, with Carlsen still on top, having the better tiebreaker due to four games with black—Anand and McShane played only three times with black).


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen competed in the GM-A group of the 73rd Tata Steel Chess Tournament (formerly called the Corus chess tournament) on 14–30 January in Wijk aan Zee in an attempt to defend his title; the field included World Champion Viswanathan Anand, Levon Aronian, former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Grischuk, Hikaru Nakamura, Ruslan Ponomariov, among others. Despite losing games with white against Anish Giri and reigning Russian champion Ian Nepomniachtchi, Carlsen finished with 8/13, including victories over Kramnik and tournament winner Nakamura. Although Carlsen's performance raised his rating from 2814 to 2815, Anand's 8½/13 score elevated his rating to 2817, making him the world for the March 2011 FIDE rating list.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: The first tournament victory of the year came in the Bazna Kings tournament, a double round robin played in Mediaș, Romania on 11–21 June. Carlsen finished with 6½/10, equal with Sergey Karjakin but with a better tiebreak score. Carlsen won his White games against Nakamura, Nisipeanu, and Ivanchuk and drew the rest of the games.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen won the 44th Biel Grandmaster tournament, held from 16 to 29 July. He took clear first place with a score of 19/30 (+5−1=4; three points for a win) in a field comprising Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Alexander Morozevich, Alexey Shirov and Yannick Pelletier, two points ahead of Morozevich. This was Carlsen's second title.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: The Grand Slam Chess Final was held as a double round robin with six players, in São Paulo (25 September – 1 October) and Bilbao (5–11 October). Although Carlsen had a slow start, including a loss against bottom-ranked Francisco Vallejo Pons, he finished +3−1=6, equal with Ivanchuk (whose +4−3=3 finish was equal due to three points for a win). Carlsen then won the blitz tiebreak against Ivanchuk. The other players were Anand, Aronian, Nakamura, and Vallejo Pons.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Another tournament victory was achieved in the Tal Memorial in Moscow 16–25 November as a round robin with ten players. Carlsen won two games, against Gelfand and Nakamura, and drew the rest. Although he finished equal on points with Aronian, he placed ahead since the tiebreak was determined by the number of black games; Carlsen had five black games, while Aronian only had four.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In the London Chess Classic, played 3–12 December, Carlsen's streak of tournament victories ended when he finished third, behind Kramnik and Nakamura. Carlsen won three games and drew five. Although he did not win the tournament, Carlsen gained rating points, rising to a new personal record of 2835.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: At the 74th Tata Steel Chess Tournament held on 14–29 January in Wijk aan Zee, Carlsen finished in a shared second place with 8/13, behind Aronian, and equal with Radjabov and Caruana. Carlsen defeated Gashimov, Aronian, Gelfand, and Topalov, but lost against Karjakin. At the blitz chess tournament at Tal Memorial, held in Moscow on 7 June, Carlsen shared first place with Morozevich. In the main event (a category 22 ten-player round robin), he won two games and drew seven. He finished in first place, ahead of Radjabov and Caruana.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen then went on to finish second in the Biel Grandmaster Tournament, with 18 points, just one point behind Wang Hao using the 3–1–0 scoring system. As in the Tal Memorial earlier in 2012, Carlsen managed to finish the tournament without any losses (+4−0=6). He also defeated the winner Wang in both of their individual games. In the exhibition blitz tournament at Biel before the GM tournament, Carlsen was eliminated (+1−2=0) in the first round by Étienne Bacrot. Bacrot deprived Carlsen of a win in the classical tournament by holding him to a draw in the final round. Carlsen would have won the classical tournament on the traditional 1–½–0 scoring system, with 7/10.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: The Grand Slam Chess Final was again held as a double round robin with six players, in São Paulo and Bilbao. Carlsen started with a loss against Caruana, but after three wins in the second (Bilbao) round, finished +4−1=5, equal first with Caruana, and ahead of Aronian, Karjakin and Anand. Carlsen won the tournament by winning both tiebreak games against Caruana.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 24 to 25 November, Carlsen took part in the chess festival "Segunda Gran Fiesta Internacional de Ajedrez" in Mexico City. As part of it, Carlsen took on an online audience (dubbed as "The World") with the white pieces and won. He then took part in the knockout exhibition event "Cuadrangular UNAM". Carlsen first beat Lázaro Bruzón 1½–½, thus qualifying for a final against Judit Polgár (who had in turn beat Manuel León Hoyos 1½–½). Carlsen lost the first game, but won the second one, and in the tiebreak defeated Polgár 2–0.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen won the London Chess Classic in December with five wins (over McShane, Aronian, Gawain Jones, Adams and Judit Polgár) and three draws (against Kramnik, Nakamura and Anand). This win, the third time Carlsen had won the tournament in the past four years, increased his rating from 2848 to a new record of 2861, breaking Kasparov's 13-year record of 2851. By rating performance, this was one of the best results in history, with a PR of 2994.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen played in the 75th Tata Steel Chess Tournament from 11 to 27 January in Wijk aan Zee. In the 13-round tournament, he scored 10 points (+7−0=6), winning clear first 1½ points ahead of second-place finisher Aronian. On 1 February, Danish GM Peter Heine Nielsen joined the team of assistants who helped Carlsen prepare for the Candidates Tournament in March. Before this, Nielsen was on Viswanathan Anand's team.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen played in the 2013 Candidates Tournament, which took place in London, from 15 March to 1 April. He finished with +5−2=7, and won the tournament on tiebreak over Vladimir Kramnik. As a result, he earned the right to challenge Anand for the World Championship.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In May, Carlsen played in the first edition of Norway Chess tournament. He finished second, scoring 5½/9 (+3−1=5), half a point behind Sergey Karjakin.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen played in the Tal Memorial from 12 to 23 June. He finished second, with 5½/9, half a point behind Boris Gelfand. Carlsen ended the tournament with +3−1=5, losing to Caruana but beating Anand, Kramnik and Nakamura. Later that month, Carlsen played a four-game friendly rapid match against Borki Predojević, which he won 2½–1½.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In the Sinquefield Cup, held in September, Carlsen finished first, scoring 4½/6 (+3−0=3), a point ahead of Nakamura.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen faced Anand in the World Chess Championship 2013, at Hyatt Regency in Chennai, India, from 9 to 22 November. Carlsen won the match 6½–3½ by winning games five, six and nine and drawing the remainder, becoming the new World Chess Champion. Though he was the challenger, and less experienced than Anand, he handled the pressure with ease. He drew first blood in game 5 by taking advantage of a small mistake by Anand, and emerged victorious in games 6 and 9, making him the 16th undisputed World Chess Champion.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 29 January to 4 February, Carlsen played in the Zurich Chess Challenge, winning the blitz event (+2−1=2) and the classical event (+3−0=2). He fared worse in the rapid event (+1−2=2), which counted towards the overall standings, but retained enough of a lead to win the tournament. The other players in the event were Aronian, Nakamura, Caruana, Gelfand and Anand. On 22 March, Carlsen played a game for his club Stavanger in the final team match for promotion to the Norwegian Premier League. His win over Vladimir Georgiev helped his team to a 3½–2½ win over Nordstrand.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen won the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Şəmkir, Azerbaijan, played from 20 to 30 April. He played in the A group along with Caruana, Nakamura, Karjakin, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Radjabov. Carlsen started the tournament with 2/2, beating Mamedyarov and Nakamura. He then drew against Karjakin, only to lose two games in a row for the first time in four years, losing to Caruana with black and then with white to Radjabov. In the second half of the tournament, Carlsen scored 4/5, beating Mamedyarov and Nakamura again, and securing the tournament victory by beating Caruana in the final round, finishing with +5−2=3.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: On 8 May, Carlsen played an exhibition game at Oslo City against the people of Norway, assisted by a grandmaster panel consisting of Simen Agdestein, Jon Ludvig Hammer, and Leif Erlend Johannessen. Each of the panel members proposed a move and the public could then vote over the proposed moves. Each panel member was allowed three chances to let chess engine Houdini propose a move during the game. Norway's moves were executed by Oddvar Brå who was disguised in a red spandex suit for the occasion. The game was drawn when Carlsen forced a perpetual check.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 2–13 June, Carlsen played in the second edition of Norway Chess, a ten-man round robin. He placed second with 5½/9, ½ a point behind the winner Karjakin. Other players in the event were Aronian, Caruana, Topalov, Svidler, Kramnik, Grischuk, Giri and Agdestein.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen won the FIDE World Rapid Championship, which was held in Dubai from 16 to 19 June. He went on to claim the World Blitz Championship two days later, becoming the first player to simultaneously hold the title in all three FIDE rated time controls.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen played nine games for Norway in the 41st Chess Olympiad, scoring five wins, two draws, and two losses (against Arkadij Naiditsch and Ivan Šarić).


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen placed second to Fabiano Caruana in the Sinquefield Cup, a six-player double round robin held from 27 August to 7 September. Billed as the strongest chess tournament ever held, the remaining 4 players in the event were Levon Aronian, Hikaru Nakamura, Veselin Topalov, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Carlsen lost to Caruana in round 3 and defeated Aronian and Nakamura in rounds 5 and 7, respectively. He finished the tournament with 5½/10 (+2−1=7), three points behind Caruana.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen faced Anand in a match for the title of World Chess Champion in 2014. Anand qualified by winning the 2014 Candidates Tournament. The rematch was held from 7 to 23 November in Sochi, Russia. After 11 of 12 games, Carlsen led 6½–4½, thereby defending his World Champion title.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In January, Carlsen won the 77th Tata Steel Chess Tournament, which was played mainly in Wijk aan Zee on 9–25 January. Carlsen had a poor start to the tournament with two draws and a loss in the third round to Radosław Wojtaszek, which left him in tenth place among the fourteen players. However, a string of six wins in a row thrust Carlsen into clear first place. Drawing the final four games was sufficient to win the tournament with 9 points out of 13, half a point ahead of Anish Giri, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Wesley So and Ding Liren.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In February, Carlsen won the 3rd Grenke Chess Classic after a five-game tiebreak with Arkadij Naiditsch. Carlsen had finished joint first with Naiditsch on 4½/7, beating Michael Adams, Anand, and David Baramidze, and losing to Naiditsch in their classical encounter. This tournament victory meant that Carlsen began 2015 by winning two out of two tournaments. Carlsen continued his streak in April, winning Shamkir Chess with a score of 7/9 (+5−0=4), defeating Mamedyarov, Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave, Kramnik, and Rauf Mamedov. With a performance rating of 2983, this was Carlsen's third best tournament result ever, behind only Nanjing 2009 (3002 TPR) and London 2012 (2994 TPR).


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen had a poor result in the third edition of Norway Chess, held 15–26 June. In the first round he obtained a winning position against Topalov after pressing in a long endgame, only to lose on time when he mistakenly thought that he would receive 15 minutes of extra time at move 60. He was then outplayed by Caruana in the second round, missed a win against Anish Giri in round 3, and lost to Anand in round 4. He won against Grischuk in round 5, drew against Nakamura and Vachier-Lagrave in rounds 6 and 7, and defeated Aronian in round 8, but he lost the last round against Jon Ludvig Hammer, leaving him in seventh place and with a performance rating of 2693. Carlsen said of this result: "It's just extremely frustrating not to be able to show anything close to what I am capable of in my home country."


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 22 August to 3 September, Carlsen played in the 2015 Sinquefield Cup. He finished in second place with 5/9 (+3−2=4), one point behind winner Levon Aronian. He defeated the 2014 Sinquefield winner Fabiano Caruana, as well as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and wild-card Wesley So, but lost to Veselin Topalov and Alexander Grischuk.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In October, Carlsen successfully defended his title in the FIDE World Rapid Championships held in Berlin, as the first World Rapid Champion to do so in history, going +8−0=7. He reached the highest live rapid rating in history after the tournament, and was at that point ranked in all three disciplines simultaneously. However, Carlsen lost his blitz ranking after he had a weak second day in the World Blitz Championship, and was unable to retain his World Blitz Champion title, losing it to Alexander Grischuk.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In November, Carlsen participated in the European Team Chess Championship with the Norwegian team. He started off poorly, scoring ½ points out of 3 games, losing to Levon Aronian, drawing against Sune Berg Hansen, and losing again to Yannick Pelletier due to a blunder. However, he finished the tournament strongly, scoring victories against Peter Leko and Radoslaw Wojtaszek, the latter of whom he had lost to earlier in the year, but his performance was not enough to earn his team a medal, and he lost 16 rating points during the event.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 4–13 December, Carlsen participated in the final leg of the Grand Chess Tour, the . He scored 5½/9 (+2−0=7) in the event, defeating Nakamura (thus inflicting Nakamura's 12th classical loss to Carlsen) and Grischuk, and finished joint first with Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. In the 3-way tiebreak, Carlsen was the top seed, meaning he faced the winner of the first tie-break match between Giri and Vachier-Lagrave. Carlsen eventually won the tournament by defeating Vachier-Lagrave, which meant he also won the overall Grand Chess Tour. Carlsen then played in the second edition of the Qatar Masters Open, which was held from 20 to 29 December. He finished joint first with 7/9 (+5−0=4), and defeated Yu Yangyi in a tie-break match to win the tournament.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 15 to 31 January, Carlsen participated in the 78th Tata Steel Chess Tournament, held in Wijk Aan Zee. Carlsen won the tournament by scoring 9 points out of 13 (+5−0=8), earning him his 5th Wijk Aan Zee title.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 18 to 30 April, Carlsen played in the fourth edition of the Norway Chess Tournament. He finished in first place with 6/9 (+4−1=4), half a point ahead of Levon Aronian, and a full point in front of Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. This was Carlsen's first Norway Chess victory.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 17 to 20 June, Carlsen played in the Leuven leg of the Grand Chess Tour. He finished first in the rapid portion of the tournament with 12/18 (+5−2=2; two points for a win) and also first in the blitz portion with 11/18 (+7−3=8) to place first overall with a score of 23/36, two and a half points ahead of the runner-up, Wesley So.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In July, Carlsen won the 9th edition of the Bilbao Masters Final, scoring 17 points out of 10 games (+4−1=5; a win was 3 points, a draw was 1 point). His only loss was to Hikaru Nakamura, who had never beaten Carlsen in classical chess before. Also during this tournament, Carlsen recorded his first victory over Anish Giri in a classical game.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen played ten games for Norway in the 42nd Chess Olympiad, scoring five wins and five draws, as the Norwegians placed 5th among the 180 teams in the open event.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen also featured in Chess.com's Grandmaster Blitz Battle Championship. Magnus defeated Tigran L. Petrosian 21 to 4 in the first round, and beat Alexander Grischuk 16 to 8 in the semi-final. On 27 October, he faced Nakamura in the final. Playing both blitz and bullet chess for a total of three hours, Carlsen defeated Nakamura 14½ to 10½ and became the first winner of the Chess.com Grandmaster Blitz Battle Championship.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 26 to 30 December, Carlsen played in the World Rapid and Blitz Championships held in Doha, Qatar. He scored 11/15 in the rapid tournament, finishing third on tiebreak behind Ivanchuk and Grischuk. In the blitz tournament, he scored 16½/21, finishing second on tiebreak behind Karjakin, and 2 points clear of the rest of the field.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen faced Sergey Karjakin in the 2016 World Chess Championship in New York City. The 12-game standard match, held between 11 and 28 November, concluded with a 6–6 tie. The match began with seven consecutive draws. Karjakin won game 8 after Carlsen overpressed, but Carlsen equalised the match in game 10. Games 11 and 12 were both drawn. The tiebreaking games were held on 30 November, Carlsen's 26th birthday. After drawing games 1 and 2, Carlsen won games 3 and 4 to record a 3–1 victory and retain his World Champion title.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In January, Carlsen participated in the 79th Tata Steel Chess Tournament. He started well, scoring 2 wins and 4 draws in his first 6 games, but missed mate-in-3 versus Giri in round 7, which Giri described as "the most embarrassing moment" of Carlsen's career. Carlsen then lost in round 8 to Richárd Rapport, and ultimately placed second with 8/13 (+4−1=8), one point behind winner Wesley So.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 13 to 22 April, Carlsen competed in the 4th Grenke Chess Classic, finishing in joint second place, though third on tiebreaks, with Fabiano Caruana, with a score of 4/7 (+1−0=6). The clear winner with 5½ points (+4−0=3) was Levon Aronian. As a result, Carlsen's FIDE rating dropped to 2832, his lowest since November 2011 (2826).


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen participated in the fifth edition of Norway Chess from 6 to 16 June. He performed poorly and had a of 2755, his lowest since 2015 (2670, at the European Team Chess Championship). Ultimately, he placed ninth in the round-robin tournament with 4/9 (+1−2=6), losing to Aronian and Kramnik and winning against Karjakin. Aronian won the tournament with 6/9 (+3−0=6).


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen played in the Paris leg of the 2017 Grand Chess Tour, which was held from 21 to 25 June. He finished first in the rapid portion of the tournament with 14/18 (+5−0=4; two points for a win) and fifth in the blitz portion with 10/18 (+8−6=4) to place joint first overall with Vachier-Lagrave. Carlsen then defeated Vachier-Lagrave in the playoff to win the tournament.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 28 June to 2 July, he played in the Leuven leg of the Grand Chess Tour. He won this tournament convincingly, scoring 11/18 (+3−1=5; two points for a win) in the rapid portion and 14½/18 (+12−1=5) in the blitz portion for an overall score of 25½/36, three points ahead of the runner-up, Wesley So. Carlsen's performance rating in the blitz portion of the tournament was 3018, which Garry Kasparov described as "phenomenal". Additionally, Leonard Barden, writing for "The Guardian", said the performance was only matched by Fischer's 19/22 score at the 1970 World Blitz Championship.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 2 to 11 August, Carlsen competed in the Sinquefield Cup, the first classical event of the Grand Chess Tour. He finished joint second with Anand, scoring 5½/9 (+3−1=5). He recorded three victories (against Karjakin, So and Aronian) and his one loss was to Vachier-Lagrave, who won the tournament with 6/9 (+3−0=6). This result left Carlsen in first place in the Grand Chess Tour standings with 34 points, three points ahead of second place Vachier-Lagrave.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In September, he took part in the Chess World Cup 2017. His participation in the event as World Champion was unusual as the World Cup is part of the cycle to challenge the World Champion in 2018. He defeated Oluwafemi Balogun +2−0=0 in the first round to advance to the second round, where he defeated Aleksey Dreev +2−0=0. He was then defeated in the third round by Bu Xiangzhi +0−1=1 and eliminated from the tournament.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: On 1 October, Carlsen won the Isle of Man Open, a tournament held from 23 September to 1 October. He scored 7½/9 (+6−0=3), half a point ahead of Nakamura and Anand, for a performance rating of 2903. This was Carlsen's first classical tournament victory in 435 days.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 9 to 14 November, Carlsen faced Ding Liren in the 2017 Champions Showdown, a match consisting of 10 rapid and 20 blitz games, hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club. Carlsen won, scoring 22–8 (+16−2=12).


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 1 to 11 December, Carlsen competed in the , the final event of the 2017 Grand Chess Tour. He finished fifth, scoring 5/9 (+2−1=6). Caruana shared first place with Nepomniachtchi on 6/9 (+3−0=6) and won the tournament after defeating Nepomniachtchi 2½–1½ in the blitz tiebreak. Carlsen's placing awarded him 7 additional points in the Grand Chess Tour standings, which was enough to crown him the 2017 Grand Chess Tour champion.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 26 to 30 December, Carlsen played in the 2017 World Rapid and World Blitz Chess Championships, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He finished fifth in the rapid event, scoring 10/15 (+8−3=4). Anand shared first place with Vladimir Fedoseev on 10½/15, and won the tournament after defeating Fedoseev on tiebreak. Carlsen won the blitz event, scoring 16/21 (+13−2=6), one and a half points ahead of his nearest competitors, Karjakin and Anand. This was Carlsen's third World Blitz Chess Championship victory.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From October 2017 to January 2018, Carlsen played in the second edition of Chess.com's Speed Chess Championship. He defeated Gadir Guseinov, So and Grischuk in the first three rounds 20½–5½, 27½–9½ and 15½–10½, respectively. On 3 January he defeated Nakamura 18–9 in the final, thus winning the tournament for a second time in a row.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 13 to 28 January, Carlsen competed in the 80th Tata Steel Chess Tournament. He placed joint first with Giri, scoring 9/13 (+5−0=8). Carlsen then defeated Giri 1½–½ in the blitz playoff, thus winning the tournament for a record sixth time. In February, Carlsen won the unofficial Fischer Random Chess Championship, defeating Nakamura by a score of 14–10.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen placed second with a score of 5½/9 (+2−0=7) in the 5th Grenke Chess Classic, held from 31 March to 9 April. Caruana won the event with 6½/9 (+4−0=5). Carlsen won the fifth edition of Shamkir Chess, held from 18 to 28 April, finishing clear first with a score of 6/9 (+3−0=6). From 28 May to 7 June, he competed in the sixth edition of Norway Chess, placing second with 4½/8 (+2−1=5), half a point behind winner Caruana. He defeated Caruana and Aronian in rounds 1 and 3, respectively, but lost to So in round 6.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen participated in the 51st Biel Grandmaster tournament, held from 23 July to 1 August. He finished second on 6/10 (+3−1=6), one-and-a-half points behind the winner Mamedyarov. In August, he competed in the 6th Sinquefield Cup. He tied for first with Caruana and Aronian on 5½/9 (+2−0=7), and jointly won the tournament after the trio decided to share the title. Carlsen represented Vålerenga sjakklubb at the 34th European Chess Club Cup in October. He scored 3½/6 (+1−0=5), as his team finished fifth.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 26 to 30 December, Carlsen played in the 2018 World Rapid and World Blitz Chess Championships, held in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He lost three of his first eight games—including both of the first two—to significantly lower-rated opponents in the rapid event. Despite a strong recovery, he was unable to attain a medal, placing fifth with 10½/15 (+9−3=3). He defended his blitz title, going unbeaten to finish clear first on a score of 17/21 (+13−0=8).


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen faced Fabiano Caruana in the 2018 World Chess Championship in London. The 12-game match, organised by FIDE, was played between 9 and 28 November. All 12 classical time control games were drawn. Carlsen retained his title by defeating Caruana 3–0 in rapid tiebreak games. Carlsen cited the first rapid game as "critical", and said he felt "very calm" after winning it.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 12 to 27 January, Carlsen competed in the 81st Tata Steel Chess Tournament. With a score of 9/13 (+5−0=8), half a point ahead of Giri, he won the tournament for a record-extending seventh time.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen participated in the sixth edition of Shamkir Chess, held from 31 March to 9 April. He took clear first place with 7/9 (+5−0=4), two points ahead of runner-up Ding. Carlsen said at the event's closing ceremony that it was "one of the best tournaments I've ever played, both in terms of performance and also the quality of the games." Later in April, Carlsen won the 6th Grenke Chess Classic. He took clear first place with 7½/9 (+6−0=3) and increased his rating to 2875.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In early May, Carlsen won the Côte d'Ivoire Rapid & Blitz, the first leg of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, with a score of 26½/36. In late May, Carlsen won his sixth tournament in a row, winning the Lindores Abbey Chess Stars Tournament. The four-man rapid tournament was a double round-robin. In addition to Carlsen, Anand, Ding, and Karjakin participated. Carlsen's score was 3½/6 (+1−0=5).


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In June, he won the seventh edition of Norway Chess. Scoring 13½/18, he finished three points ahead of his nearest competitors. From 26 June to 7 July, Carlsen participated in the second leg of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, held in Zagreb. He took clear first with 8/11 (+5−0=6), and improved his rating to 2882, equalling his peak set in 2014. This was Carlsen's eighth consecutive tournament victory.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 10 to 14 August, Carlsen participated in the fourth leg of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, the St. Louis Rapid & Blitz. He had a poor showing, scoring 8/18 (+3−4=2, points doubled) in rapid and 9/18 (+6−6=6) in blitz for a combined total of 17/36, putting him in sixth place. He said at the end of the first day of blitz: "Everything's going wrong. My confidence is long gone ... At this point I just don't care anymore and I'm just waiting for the classical to start." The fifth leg, the 7th Sinquefield Cup, was a classical tournament. Carlsen won his last two games to tie for first on 6½/11 (+2−0=9) with Ding, but lost the tiebreak 1–3, drawing both rapid games then losing two consecutive blitz games.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: At the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2019 held in October on the Isle of Man, Carlsen placed sixth with 7½/11 (+4−0=7). He thus extended his unbeaten streak in classical chess to 101 games, surpassing Ding's record of 100 games. The 101 games consisted of 33 wins and 68 draws.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 27 October to 2 November, Carlsen played in the first official FIDE World Fischer Random Chess Championship. He was automatically seeded to the semifinal round, as the unofficial Fischer Random Chess champion. He defeated Fabiano Caruana in the semifinals 12½–7½, but lost to Wesley So in the final round 13½–2½. In late November, Carlsen won the Tata Steel Rapid & Blitz, the final leg of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, with a score of 27/36. At the in December, the finals of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, Carlsen was defeated in the semifinals by Vachier-Lagrave on tie-breaks, 15½–14½. He then went on to beat Levon Aronian to claim third place.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 26 to 28 December, Carlsen participated in the 2019 World Rapid Chess Championship which he won with a score of 11½/15 (+8-0=7) including no losses to reclaim the title that he lost in 2016. Over the next two days, from 29 to 30 December he took part in the 2019 World Blitz Chess Championship. He won after defeating Hikaru Nakamura in a tiebreak match, drawing the first game with black and winning the second game with the white pieces. His overall score in the tournament was 16½/21 (+13−1=7).


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 10 to 26 January, Carlsen competed in the 82nd Tata Steel Chess Tournament. He finished in second place with a score of 8/13 (+3−0=10), two points behind the winner Caruana. During the tournament, Carlsen surpassed Sergei Tiviakov's unbeaten streak in classical chess of 110 games.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: During the COVID-19 pandemic, which prompted the cancellation of many physical tournaments, Carlsen organized the Magnus Carlsen Invitational along with Chess24. Billed as "the first professional online chess tournament," the eight-player rapid tournament was held from 18 April to 3 May, with a $250,000 prize fund. The first phase consisted of a single round-robin, after which the top four players would advance to the playoffs. Carlsen won the event by defeating Hikaru Nakamura 2½–1½ in the final.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen competed in the 8th Norway Chess from 5 to 16 October, which was the first elite over-the-board tournament held since social restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic were enforced. During the tournament, Carlsen's unbeaten streak in classical chess was ended by Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Carlsen had gone 125 games without defeat, a period spanning 2 years, 2 months and 10 days. He ultimately won the tournament with a round to spare, finishing on 19½ points, one point ahead of runner-up Alireza Firouzja.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In January, Carlsen participated in the 83rd Tata Steel Chess Tournament. He finished in sixth place with a score of 7½/13, losing one game to young Russian grandmaster Andrey Esipenko. This was Carlsen's first loss to a teenager (at standard time controls) since 2011, and his first loss to a sub-2700 rated player since 2015.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Throughout the year, Carlsen also participated in many online chess tournaments as part of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: At the FIDE World Cup 2021 held in Sochi, Carlsen won the third place match against Fedoseev after being defeated in the semifinals by Duda, who eventually won the event.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen then won the 9th Norway Chess, again finishing on 19½ points ahead of runner-up Alireza Firouzja. After his sole loss in the fifth round of the classical portion to Karjakin, Carlsen won four straight games in classical chess against Firouzja, Tari, Karjakin, and Rapport before ending the tournament with a classical draw and armageddon win against his future World Championship challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: From 26 to 28 December, Carlsen participated in the World Rapid Chess Championship 2021. He took 3rd place (by tiebreakers) with a score of 9½/13 (+7-1=5). Over the next two days, from 29 to 30 December he took part in the World Blitz Chess Championship 2021. He performed poorly, finishing 12th with a score of 13½/21 (+12−6=3).


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: 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 classical time limit World Chess Championship game in more than 5 years and at 136 moves was also the longest game in World Chess Championship history. Subsequently, Carlsen also defeated Nepomniachtchi in Games 8, 9, and 11, thus retaining his championship title. After the match, Carlsen announced that "Unless Firouzja wins the Candidates Tournament, it is unlikely that I will play the next world championship match."


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In January, Carlsen won his eighth Tata Steel Chess Tournament. He finished with a score of 9½/13, with no losses and six wins, including wins against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Fabiano Caruana.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In early June, Carlsen placed first in the Norway Chess Tournament, ahead of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Viswanathan Anand who finished second and third, respectively. He finished with a score of 16½/30, with no losses and three wins, including wins against Teimour Radjabov, Anish Giri and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. This was Carlsen's fourth consecutive win of the prestigious super tournament and fifth overall in the last decade.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: On 20 July, the deadline FIDE had given him, Carlsen announced that he would not defend his World Championship title against Nepomniachtchi in the 2023 World Chess Championship match. Carlsen said he enjoyed playing chess tournaments more than championships, and would still continue playing professional chess.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Throughout the year, Carlsen competed in the Champions Chess Tour 2022. He won the Airthings Masters, Charity Cup, and FTX Crypto Cup.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In August and September, Carlsen participated as a wildcard in the 2022 Sinquefield Cup as part of the Grand Chess Tour 2022. He won his first game against Nepomniachtchi, the Candidates Tournament 2022 winner. He subsequently drew his second game to Levon Aronian, leaving him in tied first place with American wildcard Hans Niemann. In the third game, Carlsen was defeated by Niemann, ending his 53-game unbeaten streak in classical chess that chess24 described as a "stunning victory". Carlsen soon after announced his withdrawal in a tweet with a video of Portuguese football manager José Mourinho saying, "I prefer really not to speak. If I speak, I am in big trouble." "The New York Times" stated that "online observers interpreted Mr. Carlsen's post as insinuating that Mr. Niemann cheated in some way during the game", though no concrete evidence of cheating had been found. Carlsen's previous results still affect his FIDE rating; however, they will be removed from the tournament standing. This was the first time in Carlsen's career to withdraw from a major event in progress, and was considered "virtually unprecedented" in top level chess.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Two weeks later, Carlsen faced Niemann in the Julius Baer Generation Cup, a section of the Champions Chess Tour 2022, an online chess tour. Carlsen, playing as black, resigned after one move, continuing the scandal. On September 26, Carlsen finally broke his silence and accused Niemann of cheating. Subsequently, on October 20 Niemann filed a lawsuit against Carlsen and four other defendants, alleging five counts of action, including libel and slander.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen won the Chess Oscars from 2009 to 2013. The Chess Oscar, organised by the Russian chess magazine "64", was awarded to the year's best player according to a worldwide poll of leading chess critics, writers, and journalists, but it was no longer awarded after 2013, as "64" ceased publication.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: The Norwegian tabloid "Verdens Gang" (VG) has awarded Carlsen the "Name of the Year" ("Årets navn") twice, in 2009 and 2013. VG also named him "Sportsman of the Year" in 2009. Carlsen has also won the "Folkets Idrettspris", a people's choice award from the Norwegian newspaper "Dagbladet", in 2009 and 2010.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In 2011, he was awarded the Peer Gynt Prize, a Norwegian prize awarded annually to "a person or institution that has achieved distinction in society".


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In the January 2006 FIDE rankings, at the age of 15 years and 32 days, Carlsen attained a 2625 Elo rating, which made him the youngest person to surpass 2600 (the record has since been broken by Wesley So, Wei Yi, and John M. Burke). In the July 2007 FIDE rankings, at the age of 16 years and 213 days, Carlsen attained a 2710 Elo rating, which made him the youngest person to surpass 2700 (the record has since been broken by Wei Yi).


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: On 5 September 2008, after winning in round 4 of the Bilbao Masters, Carlsen, aged 17 years and 280 days old, briefly became on the unofficial live ratings list. Carlsen's victory in the 2009 Nanjing Pearl tournament raised his FIDE rating to 2801, making him, aged 18 years and 336 days, at the time the youngest player ever to surpass 2800 (a record subsequently broken by Alireza Firouzja). The youngest before Carlsen to achieve this feat was Vladimir Kramnik at the age of 25, and up until this point only Kasparov, Topalov, Kramnik, and Anand had achieved a 2800+ rating.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: The FIDE rankings in January 2010 recorded Carlsen's rating at 2810, which made him rated player in the world. This meant that Carlsen became, at the age of 19 years and 32 days, the youngest ever world , as well as the first player from a Western nation to reach the top of the FIDE rankings since Bobby Fischer in 1971.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: The March 2010 FIDE rankings showed Carlsen with a new peak rating of 2813, a figure that only Kasparov had bettered at that time. On the January 2013 FIDE rankings, Carlsen reached 2861, thus surpassing Garry Kasparov's 2851 record from July 1999. In the May 2014 rankings, Carlsen achieved an all-time high record of 2882, with a peak of 2889 on the live ratings list achieved on 21 April 2014. In August 2019 he equalled his peak FIDE rating of 2882.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: , Carlsen is also ranked in the FIDE rapid rating list with Elo ratings of 2847, and in the FIDE blitz rating list with Elo ratings of 2832.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen had an aggressive style of play as a youth, and, according to Simen Agdestein, his play was characterised by "a fearless readiness to offer material for activity". As he matured, Carlsen found that this risky playing style was not as well suited against the elite of the chess world. When he started playing in top tournaments, he had trouble getting much out of the opening. To progress, Carlsen's style became more universal, capable of handling all sorts of positions well. He opens with both 1.d4 and 1.e4, as well as 1.c4, and, on occasion, 1.Nf3, thus making it harder for opponents to prepare against him and reducing the effect of computer analysis. He said in 2015 that the middlegame is his favourite part of the game as it comes down to "pure chess".


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In a 2016 interview, Anish Giri said: "Magnus and I are very close in terms of style, but in our approach to the game we're total opposites. Magnus tries to put the accent only on play, getting away from preparation, but for me preparation plays an enormous role."


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Garry Kasparov, who coached Carlsen from 2009 to 2010, said that Carlsen has a positional style similar to that of past world champions such as Anatoly Karpov, José Raúl Capablanca, and Vasily Smyslov, rather than the of Alexander Alekhine, Mikhail Tal, and Kasparov himself. In a 2013 interview, Peter Heine Nielsen said: "The days of big novelties are over, and that fits Magnus' style well." According to Carlsen, however, he does not have any preferences in playing style. Kasparov said in 2013 that "Carlsen is a combination of Karpov [and] Fischer. He gets his positions [and] then never lets go of that bulldog bite. Exhausting for opponents." Carlsen has also stated that he follows in the traditions of Karpov and Fischer, but additionally mentions Reuben Fine as a player who "was doing in chess similar to what I am doing".


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Anand said of Carlsen in 2012: "Magnus has an incredible innate sense. ... The majority of ideas occur to him absolutely naturally. He's also very flexible, he knows all the structures and he can play almost any position." He also compared Carlsen to Boris Spassky in his prime, and stated that "Magnus can literally do almost everything." Kasparov expressed similar sentiments: "[Carlsen] has the ability to correctly evaluate any position, which only Karpov could boast of before him."


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: When asked in a 2016 interview whether Carlsen's style resembles his own, Karpov answered: "It is quite possible. He grew up when I was in power, and perhaps he studied my games. He can convert a minimal advantage into a real one."


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In a 2012 interview, Vladimir Kramnik stated that Carlsen's "excellent physical shape" was a contributing factor to his success against other top players as it prevents "psychological lapses", which enables him to maintain a high standard of play over long games and at the end of tournaments, when the energy levels of others have dropped. Levon Aronian said in 2015: "Magnus' main secret is his composure and the absence of any soul-searching after mistakes during a game."


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Tyler Cowen gave a point of view on Carlsen's playing style: "Carlsen is demonstrating one of his most feared qualities, namely his 'nettlesomeness,' to use a term coined for this purpose by Ken Regan, of the University at Buffalo. Using computer analysis, you can measure which players do the most to cause their opponents to make mistakes. Carlsen has the highest nettlesomeness score by this metric, because his creative moves pressure the other player and open up a lot of room for mistakes. In contrast, a player such as Kramnik plays a high percentage of very accurate moves, and of course he is very strong, but those moves are in some way calmer and they are less likely to induce mistakes in response."


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen's endgame prowess has been described as among the greatest in history. Jon Speelman, analysing several of Carlsen's endgames from the 2012 London Classic (in particular, his wins against McShane, Aronian, and Adams), described what he calls the "Carlsen effect": ... through the combined force of his skill and no less important his reputation, he drives his opponents into errors. ... He plays on for ever, calmly, methodically and, perhaps most importantly of all, without fear: calculating superbly, with very few outright mistakes and a good proportion of the "very best" moves. This makes him a monster and makes many opponents wilt.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: An artificial intelligence approach, designed by Jean-Marc Alliot of the "Institut de recherche en informatique de Toulouse" ("Toulouse Computer Science Research Institute"), which compares chess grandmaster moves against that of Stockfish—a chess engine that outperforms all human opponents—rated Carlsen as the best player of all time as he had the highest probability among all World Chess Champions to play the moves which Stockfish suggested.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen also plays speed chess online under many screen names. He is known for meme openings and exceptionally strong play, despite banter and gags.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen modelled for G-Star Raw's Fall/Winter 2010 advertising campaign along with American actress Liv Tyler. The campaign was shot by Dutch film director and photographer Anton Corbijn. The campaign was coordinated with the RAW World Chess Challenge in New York, an event in which Carlsen played an online team of global chess players, who voted on moves suggested by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hikaru Nakamura and Judit Polgár. Carlsen, playing white, won in 43 moves. In February 2014, he appeared in G-Star Raw's Spring/Summer 2014 campaign along with actress and model Lily Cole.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Film director J. J. Abrams offered Carlsen a role in the movie "Star Trek Into Darkness" as "a chess player from the future", but Carlsen was unable to get a work permit in time for shooting. In 2012, Carlsen was featured in a "60 Minutes" segment and appeared as a guest on "The Colbert Report". He was also interviewed by Rainn Wilson for SoulPancake in 2013.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: , Carlsen is the only active chess professional with a full-time manager; Espen Agdestein, a FIDE Master and brother of Carlsen's former trainer Simen Agdestein, began working as an agent for Carlsen in late 2008. Agdestein's work consisted initially of finding sponsors and negotiating media contacts but, since 2011, he has taken over management tasks formerly performed by Carlsen's father Henrik. According to "The New York Times", Carlsen earned US$1.2 million in 2012, the bulk of which was from sponsorships.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In August 2013, Carlsen became an ambassador for Nordic Semiconductor, and in November was selected as one of the "sexiest men of 2013" by "Cosmopolitan". In 2017, Carlsen made a special guest appearance on "The Simpsons" in an episode where Homer's chess history is revealed. In 2020, Carlsen announced that he had signed a two-year sponsorship deal with gambling company Unibet to act as a "global ambassador". Unibet parent company Kindred Group is also a sponsor of Offerspill Chess Club. Offerspill was founded by Carlsen in 2019 after the Norwegian Chess Federation turned down Kindred's sponsorship offer. It is now Norway's largest chess club; Carlsen is its current chairman. In April 2022, the Kindred Group (through Unibet) extended its partnership with Carlsen for another two years, and also extended its sponsorship of Offerspill.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In October 2013, Carlsen co-founded a company, Play Magnus AS, with Espen Agdestein and Anders Brandt. Based in Oslo, Norway, Play Magnus' first product was an iOS app, called "Play Magnus", that allows the user to play a chess engine created using a database of thousands of Carlsen's recorded games from the age of five and up. Carlsen stated he wished for the app to encourage more people to play chess. The apps Magnus Trainer and Magnus Kingdom of Chess followed in 2016 and 2018, respectively. In March 2019, Play Magnus merged with Chess24.com. The group then acquired Chessable, an interactive marketplace and platform for learning chess, in September 2019.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: On 8 October 2020, Play Magnus AS was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The listing raised 300 million kr (US$30.2 million) for the company, giving it a valuation of 796 million kr (US$85.8 million). Magnus Chess, an entity controlled by Carlsen and his family, owns 9.5% of Play Magnus AS. Play Magnus subsequently acquired iChess in November 2020 for an undisclosed amount.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: As of 2016, Carlsen identifies as a social democrat and mostly follows a vegetarian diet; two of his sisters are vegetarians.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: Carlsen is an avid fan of football, with Real Madrid CF as his favourite club. In recognition of becoming world chess champion, he took the honorary kick-off in a La Liga game between Real Madrid and Real Valladolid on 30 November 2013. Carlsen also follows the Premier League and plays fantasy football. In December 2019, he reached the spot on a Fantasy Premier League game, ahead of seven million other players, before eventually finishing the season in 10th place.


title: Magnus Carlsen

text: In April 2022, Carlsen played poker at the Norwegian Championships Main Event and finished 25th out of 1050 players.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. According to the 2020 census, Seoul has a population of 9.9 million people, and forms the heart of the Seoul Capital Area with the surrounding Incheon metropolis and Gyeonggi province. Considered to be a global city and rated as an Alpha – City by Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC), Seoul was the world's fourth largest metropolitan economy in 2014, following Tokyo, New York City and Los Angeles.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul was rated Asia's most livable city with the second highest quality of life globally by Arcadis in 2015, with a GDP per capita (PPP) of around $40,000. With major technology hubs centered in Gangnam and Digital Media City, the Seoul Capital Area is home to the headquarters of 15 "Fortune" Global 500 companies, including Samsung, LG, and Hyundai. Ranked seventh in the Global Power City Index and Global Financial Centres Index, the metropolis exerts a major influence in global affairs as one of the five leading hosts of global conferences. Seoul has hosted the 1986 Asian Games, 1988 Summer Olympics, and the 2010 G20 Seoul summit.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul was the capital of various Korean states, including Baekje, Joseon, the Korean Empire, Goryeo (as a secondary capital), and presently South Korea. It is strategically located along the Han River. Seoul's history stretches back over two thousand years, when it was founded in 18 BC by the people of Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. The city was later designated the capital of Korea under the Joseon dynasty. Seoul is surrounded by a mountainous and hilly landscape, with Bukhan Mountain located on the northern edge of the city. The Seoul Capital Area contains five UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Changdeok Palace, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine, Namhansanseong and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. More recently, Seoul has been a major site of modern architectural construction – major modern landmarks include the N Seoul Tower, the 63 Building, the Lotte World Tower, the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Lotte World, Trade Tower, COEX, IFC Seoul, and the Parc1. Seoul was named the 2010 World Design Capital. It is the birthplace of K-pop and the Korean wave, as it is the heart of Korean culture and massive medias, entertainment firms, and broadcasters.


title: Seoul

text: The city has been known in the past by the names Wiryeseong (, during the Baekje era), Hanyang (, during the Goryeo era), Hanseong (, during the Joseon era), and Keijō () or Gyeongseong () during Japanese rule.


title: Seoul

text: During Japan's annexation of Korea, "Hanseong" () was renamed by the Imperial authorities to prevent confusion with the hanja " (a transliteration of an ancient Korean word "Han" () meaning "great"), which also refers to Han people or the Han dynasty in Chinese and in Japanese is a term for "China".


title: Seoul

text: After World War II and Korea's liberation, the city took its present name, which originated from the Korean word meaning "capital city", which is believed to have descended from an ancient word, "Seorabeol" (), which originally referred to Gyeongju, the capital of Silla. Ancient Gyeongju was also known in documents by the Chinese-style name "Geumseong" (, literally "Gold Castle or City" or "Metal Castle or City"), but it is unclear whether the native Korean-style name "Seorabeol" had the same meaning as "Geumseong".


title: Seoul

text: Unlike most place names in Korea, "Seoul" has no corresponding hanja (Chinese characters used in the Korean language). On January 18, 2005, the Seoul government changed its official name in Chinese characters from the historic "Hancheng" () to "Shou'er" ().


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is first recorded as Wiryeseong, the capital of Baekje (founded in 18 BC) in the northeastern area of modern Seoul. There are several city walls remaining in the area that date from this time. Pungnaptoseong, an earthen wall located southeast Seoul, is widely believed to have been at the main Wiryeseong site. As the Three Kingdoms competed for this strategic region, control passed from Baekje to Goguryeo in the 5th century, and from Goguryeo to Silla in the 6th century.


title: Seoul

text: In the 11th century Goryeo, which succeeded Unified Silla, built a summer palace in Seoul, which was referred to as the "Southern Capital". It was only from this period that Seoul became a larger settlement. When Joseon replaced Goryeo, the capital was moved to Seoul (also known as Hanyang or Hanseong), where it remained until the fall of the dynasty. The Gyeongbok Palace, built in the 14th century, served as the royal residence until 1592. The other large palace, Changdeokgung, constructed in 1405, served as the main royal palace from 1611 to 1872. After Joseon changed its name to the Korean Empire in 1897, Hwangseong also designated Seoul.


title: Seoul

text: Originally, the city was entirely surrounded by a massive circular stone wall to provide its citizens security from wild animals, thieves and attacks. The city has grown beyond those walls and although the wall no longer stands (except along Bugaksan Mountain (), north of the downtown area), the gates remain near the downtown district of Seoul, including most notably Sungnyemun (commonly known as Namdaemun) and Heunginjimun (commonly known as Dongdaemun). During the Joseon dynasty, the gates were opened and closed each day, accompanied by the ringing of large bells at the Bosingak belfry. In the late 19th century, after hundreds of years of isolation, Seoul opened its gates to foreigners and began to modernize. Seoul became the first city in East Asia to introduce electricity in the royal palace, built by the Edison Illuminating Company and a decade later Seoul also implemented electrical street lights.


title: Seoul

text: Much of the development was due to trade with foreign countries like France and the United States. For example, the Seoul Electric Company, Seoul Electric Trolley Company, and Seoul Fresh Spring Water Company were all joint Korean–U.S. owned enterprises. In 1904, an American by the name of Angus Hamilton visited the city and said, "The streets of Seoul are magnificent, spacious, clean, admirably made and well-drained. The narrow, dirty lanes have been widened, gutters have been covered, roadways broadened. Seoul is within measurable distance of becoming the highest, most interesting and cleanest city in the East."


title: Seoul

text: After the annexation treaty in 1910, Japan annexed Korea and renamed the city Gyeongseong ("Kyongsong" in Korean and "Keijo" in Japanese). Japanese technology was imported, the city walls were removed, some of the gates demolished. Roads became paved and Western-style buildings were constructed. The city was liberated by U.S. forces at the end of World War II.


title: Seoul

text: During the Korean War, Seoul changed hands between the Soviet/Chinese-backed North Korean forces and the American-backed South Korean forces several times, leaving the city heavily damaged after the war. The capital was temporarily relocated to Busan. One estimate of the extensive damage states that after the war, at least 191,000 buildings, 55,000 houses, and 1,000 factories lay in ruins. In addition, a flood of refugees had entered Seoul during the war, swelling the population of the city and its metropolitan area to an estimated 1.5 million by 1955.


title: Seoul

text: Following the war, Seoul began to focus on reconstruction and modernization. As South Korea's economy started to grow rapidly from the 1960s, urbanization also accelerated and workers began to move to Seoul and other larger cities. From the 1970s, the size of Seoul administrative area greatly expanded as it annexed a number of towns and villages from several surrounding counties.


title: Seoul

text: Until 1972, Seoul was claimed by North Korea as its "de jure" capital, being specified as such in Article 103 of the 1948 North Korean constitution.


title: Seoul

text: South Korea's 2019 population was estimated at 51.71 million, and according to the 2018 Population and Housing Census, 49.8% of the population resided in the Seoul metropolitan area. This was up by 0.7% from 49.1% in 2010, showing a distinct trend toward the concentration of the population in the capital. Seoul has become the economic, political and cultural hub of the country, with several Fortune Global 500 companies, including Samsung, SK Holdings, Hyundai, POSCO and LG Group headquartered there.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul was the host city of the 1986 Asian Games and 1988 Summer Olympics as well as one of the venues of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.


title: Seoul

text: On 29 October 2022, at least 153 people were crushed to death when a crowd surged in an alleyway during Halloween festivities in Seoul's Itaewon district. President Yoon declared a state of official national mourning.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is in the northwest of South Korea. Seoul proper comprises , with a radius of approximately , roughly bisected into northern and southern halves by the Han River. The Han River and its surrounding area played an important role in Korean history. The Three Kingdoms of Korea strove to take control of this land, where the river was used as a trade route to China (via the Yellow Sea). The river is no longer actively used for navigation, because its estuary is located at the borders of the two Koreas, with civilian entry barred. Historically, the city was during the Joseon dynasty bounded by the Seoul Fortress Wall, which stretched between the four main mountains in central Seoul: Bugaksan, Inwangsan, Naksan and Namsan. The city is bordered by eight mountains, as well as the more level lands of the Han River plain and western areas. Due to its geography and to economic development policies, Seoul is a very polycentric city. The area that was the old capital in the Joseon dynasty, and mostly comprises Jongno District and Jung District, constitutes the historical and political center of the city. However, for example, the city's financial capital is widely considered to be in Yeouido, while its economic capital is Gangnam District.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul has a humid continental climate influenced by the monsoons (Köppen: "Dwa"). Being in the extreme East Asia, the climate can be described as humid subtropical with great variation in temperature and precipitation throughout the year. ("Cwa", by -3 °C isotherm). The suburbs of Seoul are generally cooler than the center of Seoul because of the urban heat island effect. Summers are hot and humid, with the East Asian monsoon taking place from June until September. August, the hottest month, has average high and low temperatures of with higher temperatures possible. Heat index values can surpass at the height of summer.


title: Seoul

text: Winters are usually cold to freezing with average January high and low temperatures of , and are generally much drier than summers, with an average of 24.9 days of snow annually. Sometimes, temperatures drop dramatically to below , and on some occasions as low as in the mid winter period of January and February. Temperatures below have been recorded.


title: Seoul

text: Air pollution is a major issue in Seoul. According to the 2016 World Health Organization Global Urban Ambient Air Pollution Database, the annual average PM2.5 concentration in 2014 was , which is 2.4 times higher than that recommended by the WHO Air Quality Guidelines for the annual mean PM2.5. The Seoul Metropolitan Government monitors and publicly shares real-time air quality data.


title: Seoul

text: Since the early 1960s, the Ministry of Environment has implemented a range of policies and air pollutant standards to improve and manage air quality for its people. The "Special Act on the Improvement of Air Quality in the Seoul Metropolitan Area" was passed in December 2003. Its 1st Seoul Metropolitan Air Quality Improvement Plan (2005–2014) focused on improving the concentrations of PM10 and nitrogen dioxide by reducing emissions. As a result, the annual average PM10 concentrations decreased from 70.0 μg/m in 2001 to 44.4 μg/m in 2011 and 46 μg/m in 2014. As of 2014, the annual average PM10 concentration was still at least twice than that recommended by the WHO Air Quality Guidelines. The 2nd Seoul Metropolitan Air Quality Improvement Plan (2015–2024) added PM2.5 and ozone to its list of managed pollutants.


title: Seoul

text: Asian dust, emissions from Seoul and in general from the rest of South Korea, as well as emissions from China, all contribute to Seoul's air quality. A partnership between researchers in South Korea and the United States is conducting an international air quality field study in Korea (KORUS-AQ) to determine how much each source contributes.


title: Seoul

text: Besides air quality, greenhouse gas emissions represent hot issues in South Korea since the country is among top-10 strongest emitters in the world. Seoul is the strongest hotspot of greenhouse gas emissions in the country and according to satellite data, the persistent carbon dioxide anomaly over the city is one of the strongest in the world.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is divided into 25 gu () (district). The "gu" vary greatly in area (from ) and population (from fewer than 140,000 to 630,000). Songpa has the most people, while Seocho has the largest area. The government of each gu handles many of the functions that are handled by city governments in other jurisdictions. Each "gu" is divided into ""dong"" () or neighborhoods. Some gu have only a few dong while others like Jongno District have a very large number of distinct neighborhoods. Gu of Seoul consist of 423 administrative dongs () in total. "Dong" are also sub-divided into 13,787 "tong" (), which are further divided into 102,796 "ban" in total.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul proper is noted for its population density, which is almost twice that of New York City and eight times greater than Rome. Its metropolitan area was the most densely populated among OECD countries in Asia in 2012, and second worldwide after that of Paris. As of 2015, the population was 9.86 million, in 2012, it was 10.44 million. As of 2021, the population is 9.59 million.


title: Seoul

text: As of 2016, the number of foreigners living in Seoul was 404,037, 22.9% of the total foreign population in South Korea. As of June 2011, 186,631 foreigners were Chinese citizens of Korean ancestry. This was an 8.84% increase from the end of 2010 and a 12.85% increase from June 2010. The next largest group was Chinese citizens who are not of Korean ethnicity; 29,901 of them resided in Seoul. The next highest group consisted of the 9,999 United States citizens who were not of Korean ancestry. The next highest group were Taiwanese citizens, at 8,717.


title: Seoul

text: The two major religions in Seoul are Christianity and Buddhism. Other religions include Muism (indigenous religion) and Confucianism. Seoul is home to one of the world's largest Christian congregations, Yoido Full Gospel Church, which has around 830,000 members. According to the 2015 census, 10.8% of the population follows Buddhism and 35% follows Christianity (24.3% Protestantism and 10.7% Catholicism). 53.6% of the population is irreligious.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is home to the world's largest modern university founded by a Buddhist Order, Dongguk University. Native Seoulites tend to speak the Gyeonggi dialect of Korean.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is the business and financial hub of South Korea. Although it accounts for only 0.6 percent of the nation's land area, 48.3 percent of South Korea's bank deposits were held in Seoul in 2003, and the city generated 23 percent of the country's GDP overall in 2012. In 2008 the Worldwide Centers of Commerce Index ranked Seoul No.9. The Global Financial Centres Index in 2015 listed Seoul as the 6th financially most competitive city in the world. The Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Seoul 15th in the list of "Overall 2025 City Competitiveness" regarding future competitiveness of cities.


title: Seoul

text: The traditional, labor-intensive manufacturing industries have been continuously replaced by information technology, electronics and assembly-type of industries; however, food and beverage production, as well as printing and publishing remained among the core industries. Major manufacturers are headquartered in the city, including Samsung, LG, Hyundai, Kia and SK. Notable food and beverage companies include Jinro, whose soju is the most sold alcoholic drink in the world, beating out Smirnoff vodka; top selling beer producers Hite (merged with Jinro) and Oriental Brewery. It also hosts food giants like Seoul Dairy Cooperative, Nongshim Group, Ottogi, CJ, Orion, Maeil Holdings, Namyang Dairy Products and Lotte.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul hosts large concentration of headquarters of International companies and banks, including 15 companies on Fortune 500 list such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai. Most bank headquarters and the Korea Exchange are located in Yeouido (Yeoui island), which is often called "South Korea's Wall Street" and has been serving as the financial center of the city since the 1980s. The Seoul international finance center & SIFC MALL, Hanhwa 63 building, the Hanhwa insurance company head office. Hanhwa is one of the three largest South Korean insurance companies, along with Samsung Life and Gangnam & Kyobo life insurance group.


title: Seoul

text: The largest wholesale and retail market in South Korea, the Dongdaemun Market, is located in Seoul. Myeongdong is a shopping and entertainment area in downtown Seoul with mid- to high-end stores, fashion boutiques and international brand outlets. The nearby Namdaemun Market, named after the Namdaemun Gate, is the oldest continually running market in Seoul.


title: Seoul

text: Insadong is the cultural art market of Seoul, where traditional and modern Korean artworks, such as paintings, sculptures and calligraphy are sold. Hwanghak-dong Flea Market and Janganpyeong Antique Market also offer antique products. Some shops for local designers have opened in Samcheong-dong, where numerous small art galleries are located. While Itaewon had catered mainly to foreign tourists and American soldiers based in the city, Koreans now comprise the majority of visitors to the area. The Gangnam district is one of the most affluent areas in Seoul and is noted for the fashionable and upscale Apgujeong-dong and Cheongdam-dong areas and the COEX Mall. Wholesale markets include Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market and Garak Market.


title: Seoul

text: The Yongsan Electronics Market is the largest electronics market in Asia. Electronics markets are Gangbyeon station metro line 2 Techno mart, ENTER6 MALL & Shindorim station Technomart mall complex.


title: Seoul

text: Times Square is one of Seoul's largest shopping malls featuring the CGV Starium, the world's largest permanent 35 mm cinema screen.


title: Seoul

text: Korea World Trade Center Complex, which comprises COEX mall, congress center, 3 Inter-continental hotels, Business tower (Asem tower), Residence hotel, Casino and City airport terminal was established in 1988 in time for the Seoul Olympics. The 2nd World trade trade center is being planned at Seoul Olympic stadium complex as MICE HUB by Seoul city. Ex-Kepco head office building was purchased by Hyundai motor group with 9billion USD to build 115-storey Hyundai GBC & hotel complex until 2021. Now ex-kepco 25-storey building is under demolition.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul has been described as the world's "most wired city", ranked first in technology readiness by PwC's "Cities of Opportunity" report. Seoul has a very technologically advanced infrastructure.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is among the world leaders in Internet connectivity, being the capital of South Korea, which has the world's highest fiber-optic broadband penetration and highest global average internet speeds of 26.1 Mbit/s. Since 2015, Seoul has provided free Wi-Fi access in outdoor spaces through a 47.7 billion won ($44 million) project with Internet access at 10,430 parks, streets and other public places. Internet speeds in some apartment buildings reach up to 52.5Gbit/s with assistance from Nokia, and though the average standard consists of 100 Mbit/s services, providers nationwide are rapidly rolling out 1Gbit/s connections at the equivalent of US$20 per month. In addition, the city is served by the KTX high-speed rail and the Seoul Subway, which provides 4G LTE, WiFi and DMB inside subway cars. 5G will be introduced commercially in March 2019 in Seoul.


title: Seoul

text: The traditional heart of Seoul is the old Joseon dynasty city, now the downtown area, where most palaces, government offices, corporate headquarters, hotels, and traditional markets are located. Cheonggyecheon, a stream that runs from west to east through the valley before emptying into the Han River, was for many years covered with concrete, but was recently restored by an urban revival project in 2005. Jongno street, meaning "Bell Street", has been a principal street and one of the earliest commercial streets of the city, on which one can find Bosingak, a pavilion containing a large bell. The bell signaled the different times of the day and controlled the four major gates to the city. North of downtown is Bukhan Mountain, and to the south is the smaller Namsan. Further south are the old suburbs, Yongsan District and Mapo District. Across the Han River are the newer and wealthier areas of Gangnam District, Seocho District and surrounding neighborhoods.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul has many historical and cultural landmarks. In Amsa-dong Prehistoric Settlement Site, Gangdong District, neolithic remains were excavated and accidentally discovered by a flood in 1925.


title: Seoul

text: Urban and civil planning was a key concept when Seoul was first designed to serve as a capital in the late 14th century. The Joseon dynasty built the "Five Grand Palaces" in Seoul – Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, Gyeongbokgung and Gyeonghuigung – all of which are located in Jongno and Jung Districts. Among them, Changdeokgung was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997 as an "outstanding example of Far Eastern palace architecture and garden design". The main palace, Gyeongbokgung, underwent a large-scale restoration project. The palaces are considered exemplary architecture of the Joseon period. Beside the palaces, Unhyeongung is known for being the royal residence of Regent Daewongun, the father of Emperor Gojong at the end of the Joseon Dynasty.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul has been surrounded by walls that were built to regulate visitors from other regions and protect the city in case of an invasion. Pungnap Toseong is a flat earthen wall built at the edge of the Han River, which is widely believed to be the site of Wiryeseong. Mongchon Toseong () is another earthen wall built during the Baekje period that is now located inside the Olympic Park. The Fortress Wall of Seoul was built early in the Joseon dynasty for protection of the city. After many centuries of destruction and rebuilding, about of the wall remains, as well as six of the original eight gates. These gates include Sungnyemun and Heunginjimun, commonly known as Namdaemun (South Great Gate) and Dongdaemun (East Great Gate). Namdaemun was the oldest wooden gate until a 2008 arson attack, and was re-opened after complete restoration in 2013. Located near the gates are the traditional markets and largest shopping center, Namdaemun Market and Dongdaemun Market.


title: Seoul

text: There are also many buildings constructed with international styles in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Independence Gate was built in 1897 to inspire an independent spirit. Seoul Station was opened in 1900 as Gyeongseong Station.


title: Seoul

text: Various high-rise office buildings and residential buildings, like the Gangnam Finance Center, the Tower Palace, Namsan Seoul Tower, and the Lotte World Tower, dominate the city's skyline. The tallest building is Lotte World Tower, reaching a height of 555m. It opened to the public in April 2017. It is also the 4th highest building in the world.


title: Seoul

text: The World Trade Center Seoul, located in Gangnam District, hosts various expositions and conferences. Also in Gangnam District is the COEX Mall, a large indoor shopping and entertainment complex. Downstream from Gangnam District is Yeouido, an island that is home to the National Assembly, major broadcasting studios, and a number of large office buildings, as well as the Korea Finance Building and the Yoido Full Gospel Church. The Olympic Stadium, Olympic Park, and Lotte World are located in Songpa District, on the south side of the Han River, upstream from Gangnam District. Three new modern landmarks of Seoul are Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park, designed by Zaha Hadid, the new wave-shaped Seoul City Hall, by Yoo Kerl of iArc, and the Lotte World Tower, the 5th tallest building in the world designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is home to 115 museums, including four national and nine official municipal museums. Among the city's national museum, The National Museum of Korea is the most representative of museums in not only Seoul but all of South Korea. Since its establishment in 1945, the museum has built a collection of 220,000 artifacts. In October 2005, the museum moved to a new building in Yongsan Family Park.


title: Seoul

text: The National Folk Museum is located on the grounds of the Gyeongbokgung Palace in the district of Jongno District and uses replicas of historical objects to illustrate the folk history of the Korean people. The National Palace Museum of Korea is also located on the grounds of the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Finally, the Seoul branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, whose main museum is located in Gwacheon, opened in 2013, in Sogyeok-dong.


title: Seoul

text: Bukchon Hanok Village and Namsangol Hanok Village are old residential districts consisting of hanok Korean traditional houses, parks, and museums that allows visitors to experience traditional Korean culture.


title: Seoul

text: The War Memorial, one of nine municipal museums in Seoul, offers visitors an educational and emotional experience of various wars in which Korea was involved, including Korean War themes. The Seodaemun Prison is a former prison built during the Japanese occupation, and is used as a historic museum.


title: Seoul

text: The Seoul Museum of Art and Ilmin Museum of Art have preserved the appearance of the old building that is visually unique from the neighboring tall, modern buildings. The former is operated by Seoul City Council and sits adjacent to Gyeonghuigung Palace, a Joseon dynasty royal palace. Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, is widely regarded as one of Seoul's largest private museum. For many Korean film lovers from all over the world, the Korean Film Archive is running the Korean Film Museum and Cinematheque KOFA in its main center located in Digital Media City(DMC), Sangam-dong. The Tteok & Kitchen Utensil Museum and Kimchi Field Museum provide information regarding Korean culinary history.


title: Seoul

text: There are also religious buildings that take important roles in Korean society and politics. The Wongudan altar was a sacrificial place where Korean rulers held heavenly rituals since the Three Kingdoms period. Since the Joseon dynasty adopted Confucianism as its national ideology in the 14th century, the state built many Confucian shrines. The descendants of the Joseon royal family still continue to hold ceremonies to commemorate ancestors at Jongmyo. It is the oldest royal Confucian shrine preserved and the ritual ceremonies continue a tradition established in the 14th century. Sajikdan, Munmyo and Dongmyo were built during the same period. Although Buddhism was suppressed by the Joseon state, it has continued its existence. Jogyesa is the headquarters of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. Hwagyesa and Bongeunsa are also major Buddhist temples in Seoul.


title: Seoul

text: The Myeongdong Cathedral is a landmark of the Myeongdong, Jung District and the biggest Catholic church in Seoul established in 1883. It is a symbol of Catholicism in Korea. It was also a focus for political dissent in the 1980s. In this way the Roman Catholic Church has a very strong influence in Korean society. And Yakhyeon Catholic Church in Jungnim-dong, Jung District is first Catholic parish in Korea. It has been the first Gothic church ever built in Korea.


title: Seoul

text: There are many Protestant churches in Seoul. The most numerous are Presbyterian, but there are also many Methodist and Baptist churches. Yoido Full Gospel Church is a Pentecostal church affiliated with the Assemblies of God on Yeouido in Seoul. With approximately 830,000 members (2007), it is the largest Pentecostal Christian congregation in the world, which has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records.


title: Seoul

text: The St. Nicholas Cathedral, but sometimes called bald church, is the only Byzantine-style church in Seoul. It is located in Ahyeon-dong, Mapo District, and is cathedral of the Orthodox Metropolis of Korea. In 2015, it was designated as a Seoul Future Heritage.


title: Seoul

text: In October 2012, KBS Hall in Seoul hosted major international music festivals – First ABU TV and Radio Song Festivals within frameworks of Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union 49th General Assembly.


title: Seoul

text: Hi! Seoul Festival is a seasonal cultural festival held four times a year every spring, summer, autumn, and winter in Seoul, South Korea since 2003. It is based on the "Seoul Citizens' Day" held on every October since 1994 to commemorate the 600 years history of Seoul as the capital of the country. The festival is arranged under the Seoul Metropolitan Government. , Seoul has hosted Ultra Music Festival Korea, an annual dance music festival that takes place on the 2nd weekend of June.


title: Seoul

text: Despite the city's population density, Seoul has a large quantity of parks. One of the most famous parks is Namsan Park, which offers recreational hiking and views of the downtown Seoul skyline. The N Seoul Tower is located at Namsan Park. Seoul Olympic Park, located in Songpa District and built to host the 1988 Summer Olympics is Seoul's largest park. Among the other largest parks in the city are Seoul Forest, Dream Forest, Children's Grand Park and Haneul Park. The Wongaksa Pagoda 10 tier pagoda is located In Tapgol Park, a small public park with an area of . Areas around streams serve as public places for relaxation and recreation. Tancheon stream and the nearby area serve as a large park with paths for both walkers and cyclists.


title: Seoul

text: Cheonggyecheon, a stream that runs nearly through downtown Seoul, is popular among both Seoul residents and tourists. In 2017 the Seoullo 7017 Skypark opened, spanning diagonally overtop Seoul Station.


title: Seoul

text: There are also many parks along the Han River, such as Ichon Hangang Park, Yeouido Hangang Park, Mangwon Hangang Park, Nanji Hangang Park, Banpo Hangang Park, Ttukseom Hangang Park and Jamsil Hangang Park.


title: Seoul

text: The Seoul National Capital Area also contains a green belt aimed at preventing the city from sprawling out into neighboring Gyeonggi Province. These areas are frequently sought after by people looking to escape from urban life on weekends and during vacations.


title: Seoul

text: There are also various parks under construction or in project, such as the Gyeongui Line Forest Trail, Seoul Station 7017, Seosomun Memorial Park and Yongsan Park.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is also home to the world's largest indoor amusement park, Lotte World. Other recreation centers include the former Olympic and World Cup stadiums and the City Hall public lawn.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is home of the major South Korean networks KBS, SBS, and MBC. The city is also home to the major South Korean newspapers Chosun Ilbo, Donga Ilbo, Joongang Ilbo, and Hankook Ilbo.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is a major center of South Korean sports, and has the largest number of professional sports teams and facilities in the country.


title: Seoul

text: In the history of South Korea's major professional sports league championships, which include the K League, KBO League, KBL, and V-League, Seoul had multiple championship winners during the same season twice; in 1990, when Lucky-Goldstar FC (currently FC Seoul) won the 1990 K League and the LG Twins won the 1990 KBO League, and in 2016, when FC Seoul won the 2016 K League Classic and the Doosan Bears won the 2016 KBO League.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul hosted the 1986 Asian Games, also known as Asiad, 1988 Olympic Games, and Paralympic Games. It also served as one of the host cities of the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Seoul World Cup Stadium hosted the opening ceremony and first game of the tournament.


title: Seoul

text: Taekwondo is South Korea's national sport and Seoul is the location of the Kukkiwon, the world headquarters of taekwondo, as well as the World Taekwondo Federation.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul has a well developed transportation network. Its system dates back to the era of the Korean Empire, when the first streetcar lines were laid and a railroad linking Seoul and Incheon was completed. Seoul's most important streetcar line ran along Jongno until it was replaced by Line 1 of the subway system in the early 1970s. Other notable streets in downtown Seoul include Euljiro, Teheranno, Sejongno, Chungmuro, Yulgongno, and Toegyero. There are nine major subway lines stretching for more than , with one additional line planned. , 25% of the population has a commute time of an hour or longer.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul's bus system is operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government (S.M.G.), with four primary bus configurations available servicing most of the city. Seoul has many large intercity/express bus terminals. These buses connect Seoul with cities throughout South Korea. The Seoul Express Bus Terminal, Central City Terminal and Seoul Nambu Terminal are located in the district of Seocho District. In addition, East Seoul Bus Terminal in Gwangjin District and Sangbong Terminal in Jungnang District handles traffics mainly from Gangwon and Chungcheong provinces.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul has a comprehensive urban railway network of 21 rapid transit, light metro and commuter lines that interconnects every district of the city and the surrounding areas of Incheon, Gyeonggi province, western Gangwon province, and northern Chungnam province. With more than 8 million passengers per day, the subway is one of the busiest subway systems in the world and the largest in the world, with a total track length of . In addition, in order to cope with the various modes of transport, Seoul's metropolitan government employs several mathematicians to coordinate the subway, bus, and traffic schedules into one timetable. The various lines are run by Korail, Seoul Metro, NeoTrans Co. Ltd., AREX, and Seoul Metro Line 9 Corporation.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is connected to every major city in South Korea by rail. Most major South Korean cities are linked via the KTX high-speed train, which has a normal operation speed of more than . The Mugunghwa and Saemaeul trains also stop at all major stations. Major railroad stations include:


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is served by two international airports, Incheon International Airport and Gimpo International Airport.


title: Seoul

text: Gimpo International Airport opened in 1939 as an airfield for the Japanese Imperial Army and opened for civil aircraft in 1957. Since the opening of Incheon International, Gimpo International handles domestic flights along with some short haul international flights to Tokyo Haneda, Osaka Kansai, Taipei Songshan, Shanghai Hongqiao, and Beijing Capital.


title: Seoul

text: Incheon International Airport opened in March 2001 in Yeongjong island. It is now responsible for major international flights. Incheon International Airport is Asia's eighth busiest airport in terms of passengers, the world's fourth busiest airport by cargo traffic, and the world's eighth busiest airport in terms of international passengers in 2014. In 2016, 57,765,397 passengers used the airport. Incheon International Airport opened terminal 2 on January 18, 2018.


title: Seoul

text: Incheon and Gimpo are linked to Seoul by expressway, and to each other by the AREX to Seoul Station. Intercity bus services are available to various destinations around the country.


title: Seoul

text: Cycling is becoming increasingly popular in Seoul and in the entire country. Both banks of the Han River have cycling paths that run all the way across the city along the river. In addition, Seoul introduced in 2015 a bicycle-sharing system named Ddareungi (and named Seoul Bike in English).


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is home to the majority of South Korea's most prestigious universities, including Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University.


title: Seoul

text: Compulsory education lasts from grade 1–9 (six years of elementary school and 3 years of middle school). Students spend six years in elementary school, three years in middle school, and three years in high school. Secondary schools generally require students to wear uniforms. There is an exit exam for graduating from high school and many students proceeding to the university level are required to take the College Scholastic Ability Test that is held every November. Although there is a test for non-high school graduates, called school qualification exam, most Koreans take the test.


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is home to various specialized schools, including three science high schools, and six foreign language High Schools. Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education comprises 235 College-Preparatory High Schools, 80 Vocational Schools, 377 Middle Schools, and 33 Special Education Schools .


title: Seoul

text: Seoul is a member of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21 and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. In addition, Seoul hosts many embassies of countries it has diplomatic ties with.