Reach into your stereotype bank and picture the quintessential chess world champion. The champ is probably a little on the older side, to start. Sits stooped over the board, face pinched and puckered by stress and concentration. There may well be an Eastern Bloc accent involved, or at least a vague general sense of foreign other-ness. Away from the chess board, he's rarely seen in public—and certainly doesn't post goofy photos of himself on social media for all the Internet to see.
Now take all those stereotypes and throw them out the nearest metaphorical window. Magnus Carlsen, the 22-year-old Norwegian who was crowned chess's newest world champion on Friday, breaks nearly every pre-conceived notion about the world's nerdiest sport.
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He's young. He's handsome. He's outgoing. He's building himself into a marketing juggernaut. And, oh, about those social media photos: Here's what Carlsen posted to his Facebook and Twitter pages hours after beating India's Viswanathan Anand on Friday to become world champ:
Finally World Champion! Thanks to all for your support! pic.twitter.com/ZGvHtzkZsf
— Magnus Øen Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) November 22, 2013
Carlsen's face-off against Anand had been anticipated for many months by chess fans. But Carlsen himself seemed pretty carefree throughout the whole build-up. Here's how he explained his training regimen in an interview with The Classical in late July:
For someone that is just looking at chess from the outside, when you say a two and a half week training session, what does that consist of?
Carlsen: It just means that we’re a group of people that assemble at a place, preferably a good place where they are possibilities for sport and so on, and that the weather is good. And then we work on chess together for many hours a day and we also do some sports, [and] if we’re at the sea we go swimming and generally have a good time, and a good atmosphere. And hopefully find some inspirations and some new ideas for the chess as well.
Sounds chill. And, judging by his Twitter account, that description is not far off the mark at all. The day after that interview, Carlsen posted this shot to Twitter:
Preparing ... pic.twitter.com/P0zEjt46q0
— Magnus Øen Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) August 1, 2013
Which caught the attention of at least one high-profile fan:
For the role of Spiderman? RT @MagnusCarlsen: Preparing ... pic.twitter.com/uKuJfLrvpI
— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) August 1, 2013
But that's not all. The guy even rides jet skis:
In addition to this photo, I can show proof of even more risky business on my FB page! https://t.co/gbXiibTrFo pic.twitter.com/0j1cc9pAsJ
— Magnus Øen Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) July 29, 2013
But if it all seems just a little bit too perfect, you may be on to something. Social media has in recent years become a key marketing channel for athletes looking to connect with and build loyal fan bases. Given that context, this bit from an April New York Times profile of Carlsen takes on more interest:
Carlsen sits at the center of a campaign carefully constructed by him and his handlers to use his intelligence, looks and nimble news-media-charming skills to increase his profile outside the sport, as if he were a tennis or golf star.
The campaign seems to be working out quite well. According to the Times, Carlsen earned about $1.2 million last year, and more than half of that came from sponsorship deals. A Seattle tech company called Parallels, for example, flew him in from Norway to "impress its customers at a conference" by playing simultaneous chess matches against groups of up to 30 people.
After Carlsen's big win on Friday, his endorsement potential — and practical use for social media — has only gone up.
Oh, and one more thing. His first name, Magnus? It's Latin for "great" and has been the moniker of several Norwegian kings. Now, thanks to Carlsen, we can add one more to that list.
Image: Manjunath Kiran/AFP/Getty Images