Simen Agdestein
| Simen Agdestein | |
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| Full name | Simen Agdestein |
| Country | Norway |
| Born | 15 May 1967 Asker, Norway |
| Title | Grandmaster |
| FIDE rating | 2570 (September 2010) |
| Peak rating | 2630 (January 1993) |
Simen Agdestein (born 15 May 1967) is a Norwegian chess grandmaster and ex-football star. He has won seven Norwegian chess championships, including the 2005 title.
The young Agdestein developed a prodigious chess talent, culminating in his becoming Norway's 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, his early achievements were noteworthy; he finished second at the 1986 World Junior Championship behind Walter Arencibia but ahead of Evgeny Bareev, Viswanathan Anand and Jeroen Piket. A little later, his Elo rating rose to a level in excess of 2600, but he never quite managed to break into the world elite circuit.
In the late 1980s, Agdestein managed to juggle top-flight chess with a full time football career, representing his country at both.[1]
In the early 1990s, a knee injury cut short his football activities and the difficult times that followed also reflected in his chess, with his rating going into steady decline. In 1999 however, Agdestein resurrected his game and returned to winning ways, topping the popular Cappelle La Grande tournament that year and a very strong Isle of Man tournament in 2003.[2]
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[edit] Chess
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.[3]
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. On the January 2007 FIDE list, he had an Elo rating of 2583, just short of his 5-year top score of 2595 achieved in January 2004.
Simen Agdestein works at a sports academy, where he teaches chess and football. He has been a chess coach to many young talents, including leading Grandmaster and former child prodigy Magnus Carlsen.
His handle on the Internet Chess Club (ICC) is "Gruk".
[edit] Football career statistics
| Simen Agdestein.jpg | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 15 May 1967 | ||
| Place of birth | Asker, Norway | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1984-1992 | Lyn Oslo[4] | 92 | (37) |
| National team | |||
| 1988-1989 | Norway | 8 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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| Club performance | League | Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Norway | League | Norwegian Football Cup | Total | |||||
| 1984 | Lyn Oslo[5] | 2 | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1985 | 4 | 1 | - | 4 | 1 | |||
| 1986 | 4 | 1 | - | 4 | 1 | |||
| 1987 | 19 | 8 | - | 19 | 8 | |||
| 1988 | 17 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 13 | ||
| 1989 | 17 | 5 | - | 17 | 5 | |||
| 1990 | 17 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 8 | ||
| 1991 | Premier League | 2 | 0 | - | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1992 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 7 | ||
| Total | Norway | 92 | 37 | 6 | 6 | 98 | 43 | |
| Career total | 92 | 37 | 6 | 6 | 98 | 43 | ||
[edit] References
- ^ Norway - International Players - Landslaget
- ^ Pein, Malcolm (8 October 2003). "Agdestein nets a winner". Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/chess/malcolmpein/3604163/Agdestein-nets-a-winner.html. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
- ^ Olimpbase records
- ^ Lyn statistics
- ^ Simen Agdestein
[edit] External links
- Simen Agdestein rating card at FIDE
- Simen Agdestein player profile at ChessGames.com
- Rating data
- Tim Krabbe article
- Simen Agdestein at National-Football-Teams.com
