Nineteen-year-old Magnus Carlsen of Norway has become the youngest person ever to top the world ranking in chess.
Carlsen was listed as No. 1 in the World Chess Federation's January statistics with a rating of 2,810.
The Norwegian Chess Federation said Monday that Carlsen is the youngest person to hold the title since ratings were introduced in 1971.
General Secretary Dag Danielsen said the previous youngest was chess legend Garry Kasparov, who first reached No. 1 at age 20.
The Russian grandmaster has been coaching Carlsen, and on his blog the teenager thanked Kasparov for helping him reach the top.
Carlsen has competed in chess since childhood and became a grandmaster at 13.
He tops the rankings ahead of Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria and Viswanathan Anand of India.
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