The prize is given every year to “a person or institution that has achieved distinction in society.” The recipient has been deemed to have distinguished him- or herself within Norway and also to have improved Norway’s international reputation. Carlsen has certainly qualified in both categories. As a chess prodigy he started putting Norway on the international chess map as a child, and last year, at the age of 19, he became the youngest person ever to top the world chess rankings. He became a chess Grand Master at the age of 13.
