Name: Etienne Bacrot
Age: 31
Nationality: French
World ranking: No. 39
Name: Michael Adams
Age:43
Nationality: English
World ranking: No. 17
Name: Fabiano Caruana
Age: 22
Nationality: Italian
World ranking: No. 2
Name: Magnus Carlsen
Age: 24
Nationality: Norwegian
World ranking: No. 1
Name: David Baramidze
Age: 26
Nationality: German
World ranking: No. 236
Name: Arkadij Naiditsch
Age: 29
Nationality: German
World ranking: No. 49
Name: Levon Aronian
Age: 32
Nationality: Armenian
World ranking: No. 6
Name: Viswanathan Anand
Age: 45
Nationality: Indian
World ranking: No. 5
Name: Magnus Carlsen
Age: 24
Nationality: Norwegian
World ranking: No. 1
Magnus Carlsen is the 16th World Chess Champion and the undisputed no. 1 on the world rating list. He ended doubts about his place in chess history when he first claimed the World Championship title by defeating Viswanathan Anand 6.5:3.5 in Chennai in 2013. A year later he defended his title in Sochi against the same player 6.5:4.5. The 24-year-old Norwegian emphasised his unique position in the chess world in 2014 by winning both the Rapid and Blitz World Championships in Dubai.
Despite his tender age Carslen can already look back on a full and successful career. In his early years he didn’t stick around junior events long, with a runners-up spot at the U12 World Championship his greatest success. Instead he switched to adult events early on and in 2004 he was awarded the grandmaster title at the age of 13. In the same year he sensationally held Garry Kasparov to a draw in a rapid game.
It didn’t take long for him to hit the very top, and in the last seven years his supertournament triumphs have included Wijk aan Zee three times (2008/2010/2013), the London Chess Classic three times (2009/2010/2012), Biel twice (2007/2011), the Tal Memorial twice (2011/12), the Bilbao Masters twice (2011/2012), Nanjing (2009), the Sinquefield Cup (2013), the Zurich Chess Challenge (2014) and Shamkir Chess (2014). His biggest milestone, though, was winning the Candidates Tournament in London in 2013, earning him the right to challenge Viswanathan Anand for the World Championship title. The rest is history.
Beyond the board Magnus Carlsen has become a global brand and a superstar in Norway. Since 2010 he’s modelled for the Dutch fashion label G-Star. He’s a highly sought-after talk-show guest and he’s met with the likes of Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates. In 2013 he was named by TIME among their 100 most influential people on the planet.
Carlsen comes to Baden-Baden as the top favourite. This will be the Norwegian’s first appearance on German soil since the 2009 Sparkassen Chess Meeting in Dortmund and also his first as World Champion.
