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AFP
Published
Jul 7, 2010
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Norwegian chess prodigy turns to fashion catwalk

By
AFP
Published
Jul 7, 2010

G-Star
© 2010 AFP July 7 - Chess star Magnus Carlsen, the youngest player to ever top the International Chess Federation (FIDE) rankings, has ventured into modelling.

Norway's public broadcaster NRK on Wednesday posted snapshots and a video on its website of the brown haired teen at a fashion shoot for Dutch fashion brand G-Star Raw alongside US actress Liv Tyler.

Black-and-white ads featuring the 19-year-old prodigy and stamped with the brand's name and logo were also posted on the broadcaster's website.

Carlsen burst onto the chess scene in 2004 when, at the age of 13, he beat former world champion Anatoli Karpov, pushed legendary chess champion Garry Kasparov to a draw and became a chess grandmaster.

He told NRK he was not a fashion connoisseur, in any case not before starting to model for the jeans company.

"I think people will be surprised to see me like this. Surely just as surprise as I was when I was picked for this," he said.

Carlsen stunned the chess universe by becoming the youngest player to ever top the world rankings earlier this year, only a month after his 19th birthday.

Kasparov, who has coached Carlsen since 2009, was 20 years and nine months old when he made it to that milestone.

"Before he is done, Carlsen will have changed our ancient game considerably," Kasparov told Time magazine in January.

Pictures of the fashion shoot can be seen at http://www.nrksport.no/sjakk/1.7200856OSLO

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