Store norske leksikon, the Norwegian encyclopedia, says Magnus Carlsen has been the world’s highest-rated player continuously since July 2011, and in November 2013 ChessBase called him “world number one Magnus Carlsen.” His match for the world title against “defending champion Viswanathan Anand” ran “from November 9 to 28 2013.” A month before it began, he went to Harvard University: a photo of the event taken on October 8, 2013, by the Norwegian photographer Ørjan Ellingvåg is captioned “A chess event at the Loeb House at Harvard University in 2013, where Norwegian Magnus Carlsen played and won blindfolded against ten lawyers.”
“Carlsen plays a blindfold simul against ten lawyers at Harvard University,” ChessBase wrote, describing VG TV’s documentary “Magnus Carlsen’s Last Big Title.” As Upworthy describes VG TV’s video, “Carlsen instructed the moves through a microphone while blindfolded, as someone moved the pieces for him.” “The task involved remembering the positions and movements of 320 chess pieces while calculating the counter moves on each board.”
“The score: 10-0 for Magnus,” ChessBase reported. “The crowd cheered at the man’s astonishing feat and clapped for him as he finally removed his blindfold,” Upworthy wrote.
Weeks later, the title match was played at the Hyatt Regency in Chennai, India, against Anand, world champion since 2007, as Store norske leksikon notes. After game 10, played on November 22, 2013, ChessBase announced: “And Carlsen is the new World Chess Champion.” He won by a wide margin, without losing a single game, the encyclopedia says; born on November 30, 1990, he was 22.
How did he do it? In VG TV’s documentary, as ChessBase quotes him, Carlsen said: “I can remember probably a few thousand games. Sort of circling around there somewhere.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- He was playing ten people at once, and he couldn’t see a single board. ChessBase: “Carlsen plays a blindfold simul against ten lawyers at Harvard University.” Upworthy: “against 10 chess players at Harvard University while blindfolded.” 12
- His name is Magnus Carlsen. ChessBase (November 4, 2013): VG TV “just posted a lovely documentary called Magnus Carlsen’s Last Big Title.” 1
- He was already the world’s number one. ChessBase (November 22, 2013): “his challenger world number one Magnus Carlsen.” Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian): “Han har vært verdens høyest rangerte spiller sammenhengende siden juli 2011” (he has been the world’s highest-rated player continuously since July 2011). 45
- Weeks before he played for the world title, he went to Harvard University. Ørjan Ellingvåg’s photo of the event (Alamy): “Date taken: 8 October 2013.” ChessBase: the title match ran “from November 9 to 28 2013.” 34
- There, ten lawyers sat down at ten boards. ChessBase: “ten lawyers.” The photo’s caption (Alamy): “A chess event at the Loeb House at Harvard University in 2013, where Norwegian Magnus Carlsen played and won blindfolded against ten lawyers.” 13
- Carlsen wore a blindfold. ChessBase: “a blindfold simul.” Upworthy: “while blindfolded.” 12
- He called out every move, and someone moved the pieces for him. Upworthy, describing VG TV’s video: “Carlsen instructed the moves through a microphone while blindfolded, as someone moved the pieces for him.” 2
- Carlsen had to hold all ten games in his head. Upworthy: “The task involved remembering the positions and movements of 320 chess pieces while calculating the counter moves on each board.” 2
- That’s 320 pieces, ten boards of 32, and every move of every game. Upworthy: “remembering the positions and movements of 320 chess pieces.” 2
- The final score: ten wins, zero losses, zero draws. ChessBase: “The score: 10-0 for Magnus.” 1
- When he took the blindfold off, the room burst into applause. Upworthy: “The crowd cheered at the man’s astonishing feat and clapped for him as he finally removed his blindfold.” 2
- Weeks later, in Chennai, India, he beat Viswanathan Anand. ChessBase: the match between “defending champion Viswanathan Anand and his challenger world number one Magnus Carlsen” ran “from November 9 to 28 2013” at the Hyatt Regency, Chennai. Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian): Anand was “verdensmester siden 2007” (world champion since 2007); “Carlsen vant likevel med overlegne sifre uten et eneste tap” (Carlsen still won by a wide margin, without a single loss). 45
- He became world champion at 22. ChessBase, after game 10 on November 22, 2013: “And Carlsen is the new World Chess Champion.” Store norske leksikon: born “30. november 1990, Tønsberg.” 45
- How did he do it? Carlsen, in VG TV’s documentary, as ChessBase quotes him: “I can remember probably a few thousand games.” 1
- “I can remember probably a few thousand games,” he said. ChessBase, from VG TV’s documentary: “I can remember probably a few thousand games. Sort of circling around there somewhere.” 1
Sources
- Documentary: Magnus Carlsen’s Last Big Title (November 4, 2013) ChessBase
- They blindfolded Chess legend Magnus Carlsen and made him face 10 players at once. He still won. (February 6, 2025) Upworthy
- Caption of Ørjan Ellingvåg’s photo of the chess event at Loeb House, Harvard University (October 8, 2013) Alamy
- Chennai Final: Magnus Victorious (November 22, 2013) ChessBase
- Magnus Carlsen (in Norwegian) Store norske leksikon
Notes
The sources: no free photo or footage shows the Harvard games, and their details rest on fewer sources than usual. ChessBase (2013) gives the opponents, ten lawyers, the place and the 10–0 score; the date, October 8, 2013, and the room, Loeb House, come from the caption of the photographer Ørjan Ellingvåg, who covered it; and the format (moves called out through a microphone, someone moving the pieces, applause when the blindfold came off) comes from Upworthy’s 2025 description of VG TV’s video.
The lawyers: no source names them, so they are not named here. Popular retellings call them the best chess-playing lawyers in the world, or grandmasters; ChessBase and the photographer say only lawyers.
One line of the Short, about what the lawyers could see, describes how a blindfold simul usually works; no source we read says it in those words, so it isn’t listed with the facts here.
Other blindfold displays: the 2012 “60 Minutes” display, with his back to ten boards, and a 2015 three-board blindfold display in New York are different events.
The match score in Chennai was not checked on an official page, so this page says only that he won without a single loss (Store norske leksikon).
Magnus Carlsen is alive. Only his results, chess reporting and his own published words are used; nothing here goes into his private life. Viswanathan Anand is named only as the champion he played.
Pictures: no free photo shows the Harvard games; every picture of them we found is VG TV footage or a stock photo, so none is used. Magnus Carlsen is at the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, in January 2013, not at Harvard: writing a move, at his board, standing with his eyes down, leaning back with his arms crossed, and playing Hikaru Nakamura (five photos by Stefan64), and in round seven on January 19, 2013 (Frans Peeters, cropped). He is signing autographs at the Zurich Chess Challenge on February 4, 2014, ten weeks after he became world champion (GFHund). Viswanathan Anand, then world champion, is at the same Tata Steel tournament in January 2013 (Stefan64). Johnston Gate in Harvard Yard is seen on June 19, 2010, and Loeb House, the venue in the photographer’s caption, on July 31, 2010 (Daderot), years before the games; the Hyatt Regency Chennai, the venue of the 2013 title match, on August 31, 2015 (Nirinsanity). The chess sets are stand-ins, not the Harvard boards: a king close-up (David Lapetina), a Staunton set (Wilfredor), the opening position from Black’s side (MichaelMaggs) and a middlegame (Roland Scheicher). The officials and spectators in these photos are not named.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 1 'Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Musopen, public domain); Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo (piano) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
_-_IMG_8974.JPG){kind=link}
