Swedish WFM Anna Cramling released a second video about her trip to Oslo, Norway, on March 18. Cramling investigated how popular Magnus Carlsen is in his home country.

Anna showed passersby a photo of Magnus and asked if they knew him. Anna asked 10 people of different ages, and all of them immediately recognized Carlsen. The fourth passerby recognized Anna Cramling.

Concluding the video, Anna Cramling stated:

Anna Cramling

Anna Cramling

Swedish WFM, content-creator

“Literally everyone knew it was Magnus Carlsen! He is super famous here which is really cool! I think that shows how important he is for the Norway.

He is a huge superstar and he has made chess so mainstream in his country. Thank you, Magnus, for what you’ve done in Norway!”

Magnus Carlsen brought great popularity to chess in Norway throughout his career. Norwegian Chess Federation states that nearly 500,000 Norwegians — about 10% of the population — regularly play online chess as of 2026. Major tournaments such as Norway Chess, featuring Carlsen, are broadcast live on the national channel NRK, drawing up to 56% of the country’s total TV audience.

Credit: Anna Cramling YouTube