Carlsen's world titles (those with "world" in the tournament name) include 8 world blitz championships, 5 world classical championships, 5 world rapid championships, 1 Chess World Cup, and 1 eSports World Cup.

His first title came at the age of 18, at the World Blitz Championship in Red Square, Moscow, Russia, in 11/2009. Carlsen was among 22 players in a double round-robin tournament, totaling 42 games. The Norwegian grandmaster scored 31 points, three more than the runner-up and then-reigning world champion, Viswanathan Anand. Carlsen won all 8 games against the players who finished second to fifth in that tournament: Anand, Sergey Karjakin, Vladimir Kramnik, and Alexander Grischuk.

Carlsen with the chess championship trophy at the 2025 eSports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the evening of 1/8/2025. Photo: Chessbase

Carlsen with the chess championship trophy at the 2025 eSports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on the evening of 1/8/2025. Photo: Chessbase

Since then, he has won 7 more world blitz titles, in 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2024. He shared the 2024 title with Ian Nepomniachtchi. Due to a disagreement with the International Chess Federation (FIDE), he did not participate in the 2013 tournament, which Le Quang Liem won.

That same year, Carlsen dethroned Anand as world classical champion, winning 6.5 - 3.5 in the World Chess Championship in Chennai, India. Before the match, Carlsen was already the world's top-ranked player with an Elo rating of 2,870, while Anand's rating was 2,775. Carlsen's victory was widely predicted, and he achieved it two rounds early.

The Norwegian grandmaster went on to win the world classical title four more times, in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2021, before relinquishing the title. He no longer wanted to spend the extensive time required to prepare for the world championship.

Carlsen has also dominated the World Rapid Championship, winning 5 times in 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022, and 2023. Besides Carlsen, only Anand has won this title twice, in 2003 and 2017.

The Chess World Cup has been Carlsen's most challenging event. In his first appearance in 2005 at the age of 14, he finished 10th overall. He declined to participate in the next four tournaments in 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2019. He was eliminated in the third round in 2017, finished third in 2021, and finally won the title in 2023.

Chess was included in the eSports World Cup (EWC) for the first time this year, and Carlsen immediately clinched the title after defeating Alireza Firouzja 2-0 in the final. This is Carlsen's 20th world title, and it may not be his last.

Since Carlsen's first world title in 2009, no other player has won more than three world championships. Anand has won three titles: the world classical championship in 2010 and 2012, and the world rapid championship in 2017.

The only world title Carlsen has not yet won is Fischer Random Chess (Chess960). In the two editions organized by FIDE in 2019 and 2022, Carlsen finished second and third respectively. FIDE does not plan to continue organizing this tournament.

Carlsen, born on 30/11/1990 in Norway, is currently the world's number 1 player in classical, rapid, blitz, and Chess960. He has held the number 1 spot in classical chess for the past 14 years. This year, Carlsen has won seven out of the nine tournaments he has entered.

Xuan Binh