Play Magnus is an app where you simulate playing World Chess Champion/the world’s strong chess player Magnus Carlsen at various levels of strength based on his age.
Overall, it is a very good app that simulates playing someone very easy to someone who is the world champion and arguably the best player ever.
You can start at age 5, when the ELO is very weak all the way up to playing a world champion level player.
No matter your skill level, you’ll find a competitive matchup.
Here, we’ll look at the estimated ELO ratings for Play Magnus at each age.
Play Magnus – Estimated ELO Ratings
5 years old: 250
6 years old: 450
7 years old: 800
8 years old: 850
9 years old: 900
By the age of 9, Magnus had only his Norwegian rating.
10 years old: 1650
11 years old: 2100
First FIDE rating. Became FM at age 11.
12 years old: 2250
IM at age 12.
13 years old: 2500
GM at 13, then the second-youngest ever behind Sergey Karjakin, who Magnus beat in the 2016 World Chess Championship.
14 years old: 2600
Magnus Carlsen vs. Magnus Carlsen on Play Magnus App – Age 14 Years 4 Months
15 years old: 2600
Magnus had similar ratings at age 15 and 16.
16 years old: 2700
Magnus started playing world-class chess by age 16 and this was around the age when he and many could see he was likely a future world champion.
He became 2700 this year.
17 years old: 2730
18 years old: 2800
Magnus was near the top player in the world by age 18. He hit 2800.
19 years old: 2820
Magnus was the top player in the world by age 19.
20 years old: 2830
21 years old: 2840
Magnus and Viswanathan Anand battled for the top spot in the FIDE rankings in classical chess. Magnus took the top spot this year and has held it ever since.
22 years old: 2850
Magnus became the strongest player ever, surpassing Kasparov’s peak rating.
23 years old: 2870
Magnus was the undisputed top player and became World Chess Champion in 2013, beating Viswanathan Anand.
24 years old: 2880
Magnus peaked at 2882 (unofficially 2889) in 2014, which is the highest rating ever.
25 years old: 2850
26 years old: 2850
27+
Naturally the engine gets tougher up through age 24 and then plateaus from there to emulate Magnus’ rise.
It should mirror a peak playing level of about 2900.
Play Magnus was bought by Chess.com in August 2022 for $83 million. Magnus owned about 10%.
How Old Is Magnus Carlsen?
Magnus was born on November 30, 1990.
