Meet Magnus Carlsen, Chess Grandmaster Turned Model
Justin Fenner 3:50 pm, July 7th, 2010
Our favorite moment of the movie Zoolander is when Fabio wins the “Slashie Award,” which recognizes him as “model-slash-actor, and not the other way around.” In modeling history, there are a lot of slashes — actor-slash-model and model-slash-clothing designer being the most popular among them. And while we’ve seen our fair share of socialies-slash-models and athletes-slash-models and even models-slash-politicians, we’ve got to say, we never expected to see a world’s-youngest-international-chess-champion-slash model.
But that changed today, when Norwegian news agency NRK posted photos and video of Magnus Carlsen, the youngest person ever to top the International Chess Federation’s rankings, shooting a campaign for G-Star Raw with Liv Tyler.
The 19 year old has been making international headlines and causing international headaches since he was a lad of 13, when he “beat former world champion Anatoli Karpov, pushed legendary chess champion Garry Kasparov to a draw and became a chess grandmaster,” Agence-France Presse reports.
Carlsen told NRK he wasn’t big into fashion — at least not before he shot the campaign.
“I think people will be surprised to see me like this. Surely just as surprised as I was when I was picked for this,” he said.
And while we’re surprised to see a chess grandmaster like this, too, we’ve got to admit that he did a pretty good job, perfectly embodying the concerned, angry look we’re used to seeing in ads from the Dutch denim company.
You can see the rest of the photos from the shoot here, and behind the scenes video (with Liv Tyler!) here. For those of you who don’t speak Norwegian just click spill to watch the clip.
Source: http://www.styleite.com
That thing between his eyes scare me.
Looks like Magnus’s entry into the world of model/fashion has been well received in the fashion industry. Norwegian ‘fashion experts’ also liked the photos, and they felt that it was a smart move by Magnus to work for G-Star RAW.
Some chess enthusiasts haven’t been that enthusiastic about it, but I guess it’s because they’re not used to the thought of Magnus being a model.
However, when they think about it, they’ll eventually realize that this is actually good PR for chess, given Magnus’s high-profile as the number one chess player in the world.
The revenge of the nerds!
He met Liv Tyler, that’s pure profit!
Hi, Susan. This isn’t really a comment on this post. I have a little “what’s the best move?”-type quiz that you might be interested in posting – from N.N.-Rhine, playchess.com 5-minute game, 2010. It is on Bill Brock’s and my blog at http://chicagochess.blogspot.com/2010/07/three-pieces-is-mate.html
OR http://tinyurl.com/2dcljyo Hope you like it – a cute mate that I missed!
Only a woman could have goaded him into such a stupid decision..(No offence Susan) but this is seriously stupid. I’ll never take him seriously again…wow..just when you thought you’d seen every stupid thing..the world amazes us and throws in another boner to keep us entertained. Pathetic.
Would you buy a suit of clothes from this man?
I swear, Carlsen’s the sexiest guy on this planet.
I think Carlsen is a fantastic chess player, and one of the most naturally gifted players of all time, and I like his Nordic reserve. (I also loved it when Alexandra Kosteniuk beat him in a blitz tournament: it was a joy to watch the video.)
But the reason I’m making a comment here is that after looking at the photograph of Carlsen , I’m wondering if perhaps he is related to Sid Vicious, the 1970’s punk rock star?
Lucymarie
“Only a woman could have goaded him into such a stupid decision..(No offence Susan) but this is seriously stupid. I’ll never take him seriously again…wow..just when you thought you’d seen every stupid thing..the world amazes us and throws in another boner to keep us entertained. Pathetic.”
Your reasoning is seriously… like, seriously, I mean… just stupid…and and and, I’ll never take you, like, seriously again…. cuz…. you’re just pathetic… and, and…. models are just like… have y’all seen Zoolander??? hahaha…. just , like…. watch it and you’ll see how stupid this is and…
Seriously, man. He took photos with one of the worlds greatest photographers and got to meet Liv Tyler – AND got paid. If that is stupid, then you’re sexual orientation must be clouding your judgement.
The massive G-Star campaign makes chess look cool to the kids. This is great global marketing of our beloved game.
Yes!!! what a great Idea!!! Come to think of it..Karpov ..when he was WC would have made an xcellent underwear model. Kasparov as well. Why not Magnus? Cant wait to see him in his underpants.
Are you people serious???? Does anyone actually think this a sane idea??? What the hell is wrong with this world?!? beh…to hell with all of you.
Very great this! Great looks should not be hidden from public view. I bet this will do great things for not only the popularity of Carlsen, but of chess as well!