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New In Chess recently reprinted its 2004 publication Wonderboy under
the new title How Magnus Carlsen Became the Youngest Chess
Grandmaster, the former subtitle for Wonderboy. The new edition offers
a new preface and some corrections, but otherwise appears to be a
straightforward reprint of the earlier edition. We therefore present
Taylor Kingston's review of Wonderboy, with the appropriate name
change to the title.
The Kid's Not Bad
by Taylor Kingston
How Magnus Carlsen Became the Youngest Chess Grandmaster, by Simen
Agdestein, 2013 New in Chess, Figurine Algebraic Notation, Softcover,
192pp. $19.95
Chess has a long history of child prodigies, going back at least to Morphy, and
including such all-time greats as Capablanca, Reshevsky, and Fischer, strong
masters with long careers such as Spielmann and Pomar, some with short
careers such as Carlos Torre, some of recent fame such as J osh Waitzkin (of
Searching for Bobby Fischer), and some now little remembered such as J .
Rodney Phillips (1942-1969) and J .D. Roberts (1864-1931), who for various
reasons did not play much into adulthood.
Once rare, prodigies have sprouted like mushrooms in the last few decades. To
name only a few, world champions Kasparov and Kramnik, and top
grandmasters Anand, J . Polgar, Leko, Adams, Short, Ponomariov and others
all showed remarkable skill in their teens or even earlier. In fact the record for
youngest ever FIDE grandmaster now stands at twelve years and seven
months, attained by Sergey Karjakin of the Ukraine in 2002. To put this in
historical perspective, consider that among nineteenth-century greats,
Chigorin did not even start to play chess until age sixteen, Blackburne about
eighteen, and Staunton not until twenty-five or twenty-six.
The latest puer mirabilis is Norway's Magnus Carlsen (born November 30,
1990), who on April 26 2004 gained the GM title at the age of thirteen years,
four months and twenty-six days. Blessed with great natural talent and trained
by Simen Agdestein (his country's top player), young Carlsen currently has a
FIDE rating of 2553, placing him in the world's top 300. He has recently
reached the level where he plays top GMs, and has to his credit a win over
Karpov and a draw with Kasparov.
How Magnus Carlsen Became the Youngest Chess Grandmaster is an
uncomplicated story, describing Carlsen's rise as a chess player, beginning in
his early childhood and ending in late 2004. It is a straightforward
chronological narrative, with about 110 games interspersed, many of them
quite interesting. As with most New In Chess efforts, it is physically well
produced: clearly printed, attractively bound, nicely illustrated. The writing
and translation are quite competent.
We learn first about young Magnus' phenomenal ability to solve problems and
absorb information. He could do fifty-piece jigsaw puzzles at age two, at four
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he could build Lego models intended for teenagers, and at five he had
memorized the area, population, capital and flag of every nation in the world.
Soon thereafter he did the same with Norway's 430 municipalities. Early on he
could do difficult arithmetical calculations in his head.
Not surprising then that when Magnus became interested in chess, he made
rapid progress, using the same mental tools. For example he could read chess
books, even those in foreign languages, and absorb their information without
setting up a board to play over the games. Here is an early example of his
play, at age nine, against a player rated about 1600:
[FEN "r1bqkb1r/pp3ppp/2np1n2/4p3/2P1P3/
5P2/PPN3PP/RNBQKB1R b KQkq - 0 7"]
7...Nxe4!? Strictly speaking, not sound, but it is interesting to see a
youngster so willing to make a speculative sacrifice, perhaps even playing it
for psychological impact. 8.fxe4 Qh4+ 9.Kd2 Qxe4 10.Qf3? One of several
poor moves by White. Better 10.Nc3. 10...Qh4 11.Be2 Be6 12.Nba3?
[FEN "r3kb1r/pp3ppp/2npb3/4p3/2P4q/
N4Q2/PPNKB1PP/R1B4R b kq - 0 12"]
Black now has ample compensation for the piece, and could already play
12...d5, since if 13.cxd5 Bxd5 14.Qxd5 Rd8. 12...0-0-0 13.g3 Qe7 14.b4 d5!
15.c5 e4 16.Qf1 d4 17.Bc4
[FEN "2kr1b1r/pp2qppp/2n1b3/2P5/1PBpp3/
N5P1/P1NK3P/R1B2Q1R b - - 0 17"]
17...d3?! Not bad, but much better was 17...e3+18.Ke1 Bxc4 19.Qxc4 Qe4
10.Rf1 Ne5 with a decisive bind. 18.Ne3 Nd4 19.Bxe6+ Qxe6 20.Nac4 Nf3+
21.Kd1 Be7! "All pieces must join in!" (Agdestein).
[FEN "2kr3r/pp2bppp/4q3/2P5/1PN1p3/
3pNnP1/P6P/R1BK1Q1R w - - 0 22"]
22.Nd2?? 22.Bb2 was White's last hope. 22...Bf6 23.Rb1 Qxa2 24.Nec4
Qc2#
Far from perfect chess, but impressive for a nine-year-old. Recognizing his
potential, Magnus' family arranged for him to receive professional training,
first from a 2100 player, then from Agdestein, six-time Norwegian champion
and one of the top 200 in the world.
The bulk of the book is taken up by games, presented chronologically to
illustrate young Carlsen's progress. Here are a few samples, beginning with
Oslo 2001, where his opponent, Glenn Gaasland (White) was rated 1966:
[FEN "2r1qrk1/pbpn1pp1/4pn1p/2Pp4/8/
P1QBPPB1/1P4PP/R3K1NR b KQ - 0 14"]
14...d4!? Agdestein writes "Magnus is, as usual, more concerned with active
pieces than material. 14...Bc6 was playable, but why not seize the initiative at
once?" 15.Qxd4 e5 16.Qc3 e4 17.c6 exd3 18.Bf2 Nd5 19.cxd7 Qxd7
20.Qxd3 Qe6! 21.0-0-0 c5! 22.Qc4 Rfd8 "Magnus sets a little trap that
White steps right into." 23.e4
[FEN "2rr2k1/pb3pp1/4q2p/2pn4/2Q1P3/
P4P2/1P3BPP/2KR2NR b - - 0 23"]
23...Ne3! 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Qe2 Qc4+! 0-1
From Carlsen Johansson (2041), Gausdal 2002:
[FEN "3r3k/ppq3bp/4Q1p1/5p2/3R4/
2B1P2P/PP3PP1/6K1 w - - 0 25"]
25.Qf7! Qxf7 26.Rxd8+ Qg8 27.Bxg7+ Kxg7 28.Rxg8+ Kxg8 and with his
pawn plus Carlsen won the endgame: 1-0, 48.
Ekeberg (2227) Carlsen, Oslo 2003:
[FEN "5rk1/pp4b1/3p2p1/3R4/1PP1Q3/
5rPq/P4P2/3NR1K1 b - - 0 32"]
32...Rxg3+! 33.fxg3 Qxg3+ 34.Kh1 Rf4! 35.Qxf4 Qxf4 36.Re8+ Kf7 37.Rc8
Be5+ and 0-1, 42.
Carlsen Harestad (2249), Oslo 2003:
[FEN "r7/3bb1kp/q2p1ppN/1pnP2n1/2p1P2Q/
2P3N1/1PB3P1/2B2RK1 w - - 0 34"]
34.e5! dxe5 35.Nh5+! gxh5 36.Qxg5+!! fxg5 37.Rf7+ Kxh6 38.Rxh7# A
delightful combination.
Carlsen Sipke Ernst (2474), Wijk aan Zee 2004:
[FEN "3r1rk1/pp2bpp1/4pn1p/q1p1N2P/
3P1B2/8/PPP1QPP1/1K1R3R w - - 0 18"]
18.Ng6! fxg6? Necessary was 18...Rfe8, but over the board it's far from
obvious how strong an attack accepting the sacrifice gives White. 19.Qxe6+
Kh8 20.hxg6! "Black escapes after 20.Qxe7 Nd5 21.Bd2 Nxe7 22.Bxa5
Rxd4" (Agdestein). 20...Ng8 21.Bxh6! gxh6 22.Rxh6! Nxh6 23.Qxe7 Nf7
[FEN "3r1r1k/pp2Qn2/6P1/q1p5/3P4/
8/PPP2PP1/1K1R4 w - - 0 24"]
24.gxf7! 24.Rd3 and 27.Qf6+Kg8 28.Rh1 also win, but the text is best.
24...Kg7 25.Rd3 Rd6 26.Rg3+ Rg6 27.Qe5+! Kxf7 28.Qf5 Rf6 29.Qd7# It
was this sacrificial orgy, worthy of Tal, that really put Magnus "on the map,"
drawing serious attention from the chess media.
In our final sample Carlsen demolishes a former World Championship
Candidate. Carlsen Dolmatov (2591), Moscow 2004:
[FEN "r2k3r/p2qb1pp/2pp1n2/1p3bB1/
3Q4/1BN5/PPP2PPP/2KRR3 w - - 0 14"]
14.Rxe7! Qxe7 15.Qf4 Bd7 16.Ne4! d5 17.Nxf6 h6 18.Bh4 g5 19.Qd4! 1-0
Our examples have emphasized Carlsen's more sensational, combinational
games, but he also shows surprisingly mature positional judgment. His
endgame skills are perhaps not yet at world-class level, but are still very good
and getting better. Overall the games are quite impressive. Agdestein's
annotations are not deep, but he does a good job indicating how various
moves and ideas show Carlsen's growth as a player.
It is fortunate that the bulk of the book is devoted to such exciting games,
because its narrative is rather less dramatic. After a discussion of Carlsen's
early training in the first few pages, it becomes basically a travel diary,
describing trips to various tournaments. A typical passage:
"Magnus and his father also found time to take some hikes in the
mountains when they were in northern Italy. Especially the Matterhorn,
which stretches like a sharp pyramid from 3,000- 4,500 meters height,
was an experience, even if they had to content themselves with just
seeing it from a distance this time. Besides, they found two good
restaurants, so Magnus was content."
When not dealing with travel, the narrative consists mainly of "In round X
Magnus had a tough game against grandmaster Y of country Z" and such.
What little drama it has comes from small matters, like Magnus getting a
fever, or playing so much late-night blitz chess that he falls asleep at the
board.
Still, if the narrative lacks the suspense of a Hitchcock movie, it is competently
written and not without charm. Author Agdestein has obvious affection for his
young protg ("Magnus is small and intelligent, like a microchip.") but he
never drifts into kitschy sentimentality or pretentious hyperbole. The Carlsen
family is depicted sympathetically but modestly, and one gets a fair idea of the
rewards and problems created by having such a prodigy in the family.
It is interesting to compare How Magnus Carlsen Became the Youngest Chess
Grandmaster to another recent biography of a prodigy, How I Became
Grandmaster at Age 14 by Alexandra Kosteniuk (see the ChessCafe.com
Archives for our review). Though similar in some ways, the two books leave
quite different impressions. Carlsen's benefits from having a single author,
whereas Kosteniuk's had three or four too many, who took the book in too
many directions; for example trying to make it a comprehensive instruction
manual and failing badly. In its attempt to portray her family as sitcom-
perfect, Kosteniuk's book fell into saccharinity, and she herself filled too many
pages with adolescent fluff.
More importantly, the Carlsen book has none of the exploitative feel that
pervaded Kosteniuk's. In both the book and its companion web-site, the young
girl, still in her early teens, was practically hyped as a sex object, a sort of
chess Lolita. One almost got the impression that her handlers were hoping to
land her a Playboy-style modeling gig, and would agree to any deal that might
bring in a few bucks whether it was appropriate for her or not. In contrast, we
have this passage from the Carlsen book:
"[N]one other than 60 Minutes', perhaps the best known television news
program in the world, rang from CBS in the USA, wanting to speak to
Magnus ... [His father] Henrik fielded the call from CBS and just told
them to call back later because they were eating dinner."
Way to go, Dad!
Kosteniuk's book is better in one way: in describing some of the training
program that helped her become a top female GM. In contrast, Agdestein
gives few details, so chess teachers will not learn a lot of specific educational
techniques from How Magnus Carlsen Became the Youngest Chess
Grandmaster. It also lacks any index of opponents or openings, or any record
of Carlsen's tournament results.
What it does have, though, in much greater measure than Kosteniuk's book (or
most others for that matter), is some fine, exciting chess. No doubt about it,
the kid is good. We will not venture to predict his future, but in the past when
this kind of chess talent has been combined with the keen level of interest and
dedication Magnus has so far shown, and that dedication is sustained, it has
produced such players as Fischer and Kasparov.
We will predict that prodigies like Magnus Carlsen will become increasingly
common, and will be seen at increasingly younger ages. As Agdestein writes:
"[W]hat has happened in the last 150 years develops like Darwinist [Darwinist
has been changed to Darwinian in the new edition-ed.] evolution, where
emerging players constantly learn from their forebears." This describes not
Darwinian evolution, but Lamarckian. While Lamarck was wrong to think that
organisms genetically inherit acquired characteristics, chess players do, by
"learning from their forebears," and computer technology and mass
communication are accelerating the process all the time.
Whatever his future holds, Magnus Carlsen has already played some
outstanding chess, and Agdestein has presented it in attractive and readable
fashion. How Magnus Carlsen Became the Youngest Chess Grandmaster is an
enjoyable, interesting book, and, one hopes, just the first installment in the
chronicles of an important chess career.
My assessment of this product:
How Magnus Carlsen Became the Youngest Chess Grandmaster
by Simen Agdestein
A PDF file of this week's review, along with all previous product reviews, is
available in the ChessCafe.com Archives.
Comment on this week's review via our official Chess Blog!
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