Chess
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 but 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. 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.
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.
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 five-year top score of 2595 achieved in January 2004.
Agdestein works at the sports academy Norges Toppidrettsgymnas, where he teaches chess and soccer. He has been a chess coach to many young talents, including Magnus Carlsen.
His handle on the Internet Chess Club (ICC) is "Gruk".
Read more about this topic: Simen Agdestein
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