Simen Agdestein

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Simen Agdestein
Simen Agdestein NM Bergen 2009.jpg
Agdestein at the Norwegian Chess Championship in Bergen, July 2009
Country Norway
Born (1967-05-15) 15 May 1967 (age 58)
Asker, Norway
Title Grandmaster (1985)
FIDE   rating 2565 (July 2025)
Peak rating 2637 (July 2014)
Peak rankingNo. 16 (July 1989)
Association football career
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1984–1992 Lyn [1] 92 (37)
International career
1988–1989 Norway 8 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

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.

Contents

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 Bareev, Viswanathan Anand and Jeroen Piket. A little later, his Elo rating rose to over 2600.

In the late 1980s, Agdestein combined top-flight chess with a full-time football career, representing his country at both. [2] In the early 1990s, a knee injury cut short his football activities. In 1999, Agdestein returned to winning ways, topping the Cappelle la Grande tournament that year and the Isle of Man tournament in 2003. [3] Agdestein scored two tournament victories in 2013, when he won the Open Sant Martí in Barcelona with 8½ points out of 9 possible, with a rating performance of 2901, [4] and the Oslo Chess International-Håvard Vederhus' Memorial with 7 points out of 9. [5]

Agdestein has represented his country seven times at the Chess Olympiad, mostly playing first board and winning an individual (board 4) gold medal at his first appearance in 1982. [6]

As a player of the white pieces, he shows a preference for the queen pawn openings, while with Black, favours the Ruy Lopez, Dutch Defence and Semi-Open Games.

Agdestein works at the sports academy Norges Toppidrettsgymnas  [ no ], where he teaches chess and football. He has been a chess coach to many young talents, including world champion Magnus Carlsen.

His handle on the Internet Chess Club (ICC) is "Gruk".

Football career

Club performanceLeagueCupTotal
SeasonClubLeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
NorwayLeague Norwegian Cup Total
1984 Lyn Oslo [1] 2. divisjon (A) 20-20
1985 3. divisjon (A) 41-41
19863. divisjon (B)41-41
1987 2. divisjon (A)198-198
1988 1713101813
1989 2. divisjon (B)175-175
1990 17830208
1991 Tippeligaen 20-20
1992 10126127
TotalNorway9237669843
Career total9237669843

Personal life

He was born in Oslo as a son of civil engineer Reidar Frank Agdestein (1927–2002) and secretary Unni Jørgensen (1934–). [7] He is a maternal grandson of runner and botanist Reidar Jørgensen. [8] In 1995, he was awarded a master's degree from the Department of Political Science at the University of Oslo. [9] In October 1996, he married Marianne Aasen, a later Member of Parliament. [7] The couple had three children, but separated in 2008. [10]

Bibliography

Source: BIBSYS [11]

As an author or co-author

Books about Agdestein

References

  1. 1 2 "Simen Agdestein som Lynspiller" . Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  2. ↑ "Landslaget". GeoCities. Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
  3. ↑ Pein, Malcolm (8 October 2003). "Agdestein nets a winner". Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  4. ↑ Valaker, Ole (21 July 2013). "Simen (46) vant storturnering i Spania" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. Archived from the original on 25 August 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2013.
  5. ↑ Valaker, Ole (6 October 2013). "- Han spiller som han var 23 år!" (in Norwegian). Nettavisen. Archived from the original on 8 October 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2013., Crosstable of Oslo Chess International (TournamentService)
  6. ↑ Bartelski, Wojciech. "OlimpBase :: Men's Chess Olympiads :: Simen Agdestein" . Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  7. 1 2 Brekke, Øystein. "Simen Agdestein". In Helle, Knut (ed.). Norsk biografisk leksikon (in Norwegian). Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  8. ↑ Bøckman, Knut (19 September 1989). "Navn i nyhetene: Simen Agdestein". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). p. 6.
  9. ↑ "Regionalt samarbeid versus apartheid : SADCC-landenes bestrebelser på å redusere transportavhengigheten til Sør-Afrika på 1980-tallet". duo.uio.no. 1995. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023.
  10. ↑ Ekker, Bjørn (12 September 2008). "Her er "Skal vi danse"-bruddene". Se og Hør (in Norwegian). Archived from the original on 25 November 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  11. ↑ "BIBSYS – Vi gjør kunnskap tilgjengelig". Archived from the original on 15 December 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
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