The Most Famous
CHESS PLAYERS from Norway
This page contains a list of the greatest Norwegian Chess Players. The pantheon dataset contains 461 Chess Players, 3 of which were born in Norway. This makes Norway the birth place of the 29th most number of Chess Players behind Slovenia, and Argentina.
Top 4
The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Norwegian Chess Players of all time. This list of famous Norwegian Chess Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.
1. Magnus Carlsen (b. 1990)
With an HPI of 54.72, Magnus Carlsen is the most famous Norwegian Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 87 different languages on wikipedia.
Sven Magnus Øen Carlsen (born 30 November 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster. Carlsen is a five-time World Chess Champion, the reigning five-time World Rapid Chess Champion and the reigning seven-time World Blitz Chess Champion. He has held the No. 1 position in the FIDE world chess rankings since 1 July 2011 and trails only Garry Kasparov in time spent as the highest-rated player in the world. His peak rating of 2882 is the highest in history. He also holds the record for the longest unbeaten streak at an elite level in classical chess at 125 games. A chess prodigy, Carlsen finished first in the C group of the Corus chess tournament shortly after he turned 13 and earned the title of grandmaster a few months later. At 15, he won the Norwegian Chess Championship, and later became the youngest ever player to qualify for the Candidates Tournament in 2005. At 17, he finished joint first in the top group of Corus. He surpassed a rating of 2800 at 18, the youngest at the time to do so. In 2010, at 19, he reached No. 1 in the FIDE world rankings, the youngest person ever to do so. Carlsen became World Chess Champion in 2013 by defeating Viswanathan Anand. He retained his title against Anand the following year and won both the 2014 World Rapid Championship and World Blitz Championship, becoming the first player to hold all three titles simultaneously, a feat which he repeated in 2019 and 2022. He defended his classical world title against Sergey Karjakin in 2016, Fabiano Caruana in 2018, and Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2021. Carlsen declined to defend his title in 2023, citing a lack of motivation. Known for his attacking style as a teenager, Carlsen has since developed into a universal player. He uses a variety of openings to make it harder for opponents to prepare against him and reduce the utility of pre-game computer analysis.
2. Simen Agdestein (b. 1967)
With an HPI of 47.35, Simen Agdestein is the 2nd most famous Norwegian Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 37 different languages.
Simen Agdestein (born 15 May 1967) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster, chess coach, author, and former professional footballer as a striker for the Norway national football team. Agdestein won nine Norwegian Chess Championships between 1982 and 2023. He is also the former coach of Magnus Carlsen, and brother of Carlsen's manager, Espen Agdestein. He has authored and co-authored several books on chess, including a biography of Carlsen.
3. Jon Ludvig Hammer (b. 1990)
With an HPI of 22.45, Jon Ludvig Hammer is the 3rd most famous Norwegian Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.
Jon Ludvig Nilssen Hammer (born 2 June 1990) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster and three-time Norwegian Chess Champion. He was the main second for Magnus Carlsen in the World Chess Championship 2013.
4. Aryan Tari (b. 1999)
With an HPI of 20.14, Aryan Tari is the 4th most famous Norwegian Chess Player. His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.
Aryan Tari (Persian: آرین طاری; born 4 June 1999) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster. Tari was Norwegian champion in 2015 and 2019 and won the World Junior Chess Championship in 2017. As of May 2024, he is the third-highest ranked player from Norway.
People
Pantheon has 4 people classified as Norwegian chess players born between 1967 and 1999. Of these 4, 4 (100.00%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Norwegian chess players include Magnus Carlsen, Simen Agdestein, and Jon Ludvig Hammer. As of April 2024, 1 new Norwegian chess players have been added to Pantheon including Aryan Tari.
Living Norwegian Chess Players
Go to all Rankings
Magnus Carlsen
1990 - Present
HPI: 54.72
Simen Agdestein
1967 - Present
HPI: 47.35
Jon Ludvig Hammer
1990 - Present
HPI: 22.45
Aryan Tari
1999 - Present
HPI: 20.14
