Magnus Carlsen: Evolution of the world's greatest chess player

Published 1015 GMT (1815 HKT) December 16, 2015

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World No. 1 chess player, Magnus Carlsen, celebrates after winning the prestigious 2015 London Chess Classic... surrounded by some less-than-enthusiastic opponents. Carl Court/Getty Images Europe/Getty Images

The Norwegian chess prodigy was 13 years old when he became an international grandmaster -- the youngest at the time.
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By the age of 16, Carlsen was already ranked 17th in the world. DANIEL SANNUM LAUTEN/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Father Henrik often accompanies his son on tour, pictured here with the 16 year old during a press conference in Oslo in 2007.
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Carlsen plays against Armenian Levon Aronian in 2008. Today, he says the World No. 6 is one of his toughest opponents. RAFA RIVAS/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

The chess genius has had to grow up under the public eye. Here, the 19 year old looks on while being shaved at a barbers shop in Oslo in 2009. AFP/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Carlsen is one of the most famous chess personalities the sport has seen in recent years. Here, he and actress Liv Tyler attend the G-Star Spring fashion show in New York, 2011. Rob Loud/Getty Images North America/Getty Images

At 19, Carlsen became the World No. 1. The teenager is pictured relaxing in his teacher's office, in 2009.
"My first trainer would sometimes give me some homework that I wouldn't really like -- sometimes I'd do it, sometimes I wouldn't," he says. AFP/AFP/AFP/Getty Images

Carlsen achieved the highest rating ever in January 2013 -- beating Garry Kasparov's record by 10 points to reach 2862.
He later beat this in May last year with a peak rating of 2882 -- the highest ever.

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