Magnus wants to be King

Norway’s young Grandmaster who wants to be king

Agence France-Presse
Last updated 11:24am (Mla time) 09/14/2007

OSLO — He grew up among knights, kings and queens but that has not affected Norway’s chess prodigy Magnus Carlsen who at 16 is pushing his pawns wisely to become the world’s youngest world title contender.

Carlsen, who was initiated to the game by his father Henrik when he was but a little boy, became the world’s youngest international grandmaster at 13 years, four months and 27 days and is now 17th in the World Chess Federation’s ranking of top players — unprecedented for a player his age.

“I’m going for the world championship,” says a proud Magnus, the third youngest grandmaster in world history.

“It would be great [to win] but although I don’t know if it will happen I’m not ruling it out,” he says.

Russia’s Garry Kasparov, who is generally seen as the most precocious player, won the title when he was 22.

“That gives me a little time,” jokes a cautious Carlsen.

But former champion Kasparov and India’s Viswanathan Anand, the World Chess Federation’s current number one, already see him as a possible successor.

“At age two, he already knew all car brand names; at five, whatever he built with his Lego toys was very elaborate and he read all instructions,” says his father who is helping him to manage his career.

Legend has it that in those days he learnt the names of all countries by heart, complete with their flag, capital and size.

“It’s a bit exaggerated but it’s not far-fetched,” adds his father.

Mexico? “About 1.6 million square kilometres,” says Magnus, slightly off the mark as the US neighbor totals 1.9 million.

Ironically, his first attempts at the game were awkward and he was far from the “Mozart of Chess,” as some critics have since dubbed him.

“I almost gave up,” his father remembers as he never sought to impose the game on his son.

But as Magnus watched his father and older sister play, he began to like the challenge.

After playing his first tournament at eight, his baby face became a common feature in chess circles.

In 2004, when he became grandmaster, he defeated Anatoli Karpov at Reykjavik and forced Kasparov into a draw.

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