Simen Agdestein

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 written and co-written several books on chess, including a biography of Carlsen. Chess career Agdestein became Norwegian national champion at the age of 15, an International Master at 16 and a grandmaster at 18. On a local level, his regular dominance of the Nordic and Norwegian Chess Championships during the 1980s amply demonstrated that there were few players who could resist his enterprising and inventive style. In international competition, he finished second at the 1986 World Junior Championship behind Walter Arencibia and ahead of Evgeny...