1433 ratings | 224 reviews | avg rating:4.39

Carsten’s Year In Books

Carsten’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Carsten’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

Go to Carsten’s 2025 Year in Books

Carsten Hansen’s Followers (34)

Carsten’s Bookshelves

to-read (1326)
currently-reading (29)
read (1500)
arc-action (33)
arc-business (63)
arc-history (1)
arc-mystery (79)
arc-other (25)
biography-autobiography (47)
books-mysteries (213)
See all bookshelves »

Carsten’s Friends (157)

Randy

1,816 books | 20 friends

Jeremy Ray

2,835 books | 733 friends

Sophie

199,351 books | 131 friends

Paola Zambrano

120 books | 12 friends

Stephen Robertson

57,208 books | 108 friends

Donald

11,762 books | 23 friends

Alberto

2,193 books | 31 friends

Paul Cosmann

280 books | 14 friends

More friends…

2025 Reading Challenge

2025

READING

CHALLENGE

Carsten Hansen has read 74 of 100 books.

74%

Carsten Hansen

Goodreads Author

Born

in Holstebro, Denmark

Website

http://www.carstenchess.com

Twitter

CazHansen

Genre

Nonfiction

Member Since

December 2013

edit data

Carsten Hansen, a Danish FIDE Master at Chess, was born in 1971, a year where the winter came very early and heavy to the region of Denmark where his parents had settled. After his father had shoveled snow for five hours he realized that not even the main roads were being cleared anymore. The national guard came to pick up his pregnant wife and eight hours later Carsten was brought into the world.
At age 14, Carsten became the youngest master player in chess in Denmark at the time. he was, however, soon surpassed by a player that came to play an important role in his writing career several years later, Peter Heine Nielsen.
After a trip to the Soviet Union/Russia (the switch happened during the visit) at the end of 1991, Carsten put his full-t Carsten Hansen, a Danish FIDE Master at Chess, was born in 1971, a year where the winter came very early and heavy to the region of Denmark where his parents had settled. After his father had shoveled snow for five hours he realized that not even the main roads were being cleared anymore. The national guard came to pick up his pregnant wife and eight hours later Carsten was brought into the world.
At age 14, Carsten became the youngest master player in chess in Denmark at the time. he was, however, soon surpassed by a player that came to play an important role in his writing career several years later, Peter Heine Nielsen.
After a trip to the Soviet Union/Russia (the switch happened during the visit) at the end of 1991, Carsten put his full-time chess-playing days behind him to pursue a career in the shipping industry (where he is still employed).
In late 1995, Carsten was contacted by Peter Heine Nielsen to co-author a chess book on the "Sicilian Accelerated Dragon". Peter had been offered a contract but felt that he wouldn't be able to write the book on his own and since Carsten had played the opening his entire life, it was a natural fit. The book was released in 1998 to high acclaim and near universal positive reviews.
Carsten being eager to write more, contacted another publisher, the recently started Gambit Publications, to write more chess books, whereas Peter pursued his own chess career, reaching a rating peak of above 2700 (the highest for a Danish player) and later became the coach for World Champion Anand from India and is currently coaching the reigning World Champion, Magnus Carlsen.
Carsten then wrote: "The Gambit Guide to the English Opening: 1...e5", "Symmetrical English", "Nimzo-Indian: 4 e3", and "Improve Your Positional Chess", his best-reviewed work to date, it has subsequently been translated into Spanish "Mejore Su Ajedrez Posicional". Recently, the English version book has been released in e-format.
After that, Carsten and Gambit parted ways.
From 1999 to 2013, Carsten was a columnist for the very popular website, ChessCafe.com, run by Hanon Russell. For Russell Enterprises, Carsten co-authored a book with American International Master John Donaldson, "A Strategic Opening Repertoire" and then wrote "Back to Basics: Openings". Another book in the "Back to Basics..." series, on endings is in production. Carsten and Russell Enterprises has released two new titles in the "Winning Quickly at Chess Series", "Miniatures in the Sicilian Najdorf" and "Miniatures in the Queen's Indian: 4 g3", with several more to come in 2016 and 2017.
In October 2016, Carsten's most recent work "The Sicilian Dragon - move by move" was published by Everyman Chess. Two further titles in that series are in production and are due to be released in 2017.
Carsten Hansen lives and works just outside New York City, and still enjoys playing and writing about chess. Aside from his books, Carsten has been a contributor to Skakbladet, Chess Life, New In Chess Yearbook and most recently become a columnist for the new chess quarterly: American Chess Magazine. ...more

7 posts
Carsten Hansen's Blog

French Fireworks – Part I

[image error]

I have just uploaded my next blog post on Chess Club Live featuring a miniature from the recently concluded French Championship in Agen.

View more on Carsten Hansen's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on August 29, 2017 01:59

View all 7 posts »

Combine Editions
Carsten Hansen’s books

Average rating: 4.32 · 387 ratings · 18 reviews · 159 distinct works

	Back to Basics: Openings (Back to Basics: Chess Series) 3.95 avg rating — 21 ratings — published 2008 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Improve Your Positional Chess 3.88 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 2004 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening - Volume 1: Indian Defenses: Winning in 15 Moves or Less: Chess Tactics, Brilliancies & Blunders in the Chess Opening (Winning Quickly at Chess Series) 3.92 avg rating — 13 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Back to Basics: Chess Openings: A comprehensive guide to chess openings and opening play 4.27 avg rating — 11 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Full English Opening: Mastering the Fundamentals 4.30 avg rating — 10 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Chess Tactics - Volume 1: 404 Puzzles to Improve Your Tactical Vision 4.78 avg rating — 9 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening - Selected Brilliancies from Volumes 1-9: Winning in 15 Moves or Less: Chess Tactics, Brilliancies & Blunders 3.82 avg rating — 11 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Sicilian Dragon: Move by Move really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 9 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Nimzo-Indian: 4 e3 3.50 avg rating — 8 ratings — published 2002	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Catastrophes & Tactics in the Chess Opening - Volume 8: 1.e4 e5: Winning in 15 Moves or Less: Chess Tactics, Brilliancies & Blunders in the Chess Opening (Winning Quickly at Chess Series) 4.67 avg rating — 6 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Carsten Hansen…

Carsten is Currently Reading

Carsten Hansen is currently reading

Adventures of a Chess Girl: Into the Depths of the Chess World and Back Again

by Katie Kormanik (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, biography-autobiography, chess-various

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Dec 16, 2025 06:35PM

Carsten Hansen is currently reading

Strangers in Time

by David Baldacci (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, books-mysteries, fiction-mystery

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Dec 08, 2025 02:46PM

Carsten Hansen is currently reading

Three-Move Problems and How to Solve Them

by F. Baird

bookshelves: currently-reading, chess-various

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Dec 07, 2025 10:10PM

rss
Carsten’s Recent Updates

Carsten Hansen is on page 250 of 288 of Adventures of a Chess Girl Adventures of a Chess Girl: Into the Depths of the Chess World and Back Again by Katie Kormanik (Goodreads Author) progress:	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 23, 2025 01:00PM · like · see status
Carsten Hansen is on page 224 of 288 of Adventures of a Chess Girl Adventures of a Chess Girl: Into the Depths of the Chess World and Back Again by Katie Kormanik (Goodreads Author) progress:	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 23, 2025 06:55AM · like · see status
Carsten Hansen rated a book it was amazing My Chess by Hans Ree	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 19, 2025 01:30PM · like
Carsten Hansen is currently reading Adventures of a Chess Girl: Into the Depths of the Chess World and Back Again by Katie Kormanik (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 16, 2025 06:35PM · like
Carsten Hansen rated a book it was amazing Denied Access (Mitch Rapp, #24) by Don Bentley (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 15, 2025 05:53PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Denied Access by Don Bentley. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Denied Access by Don Bentley <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Carsten Hansen has read Miniatures in the Benko & Blumenfeld Gambits: An annotated game collection of 100 games (Chess Miniatures) by Carsten Hansen (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 08, 2025 02:51PM · like
Carsten Hansen rated a book it was amazing The Navara Gambit - An Aggressive Weapon against the Reti Opening: featuring a complete repertoire for Black against the Reti. (Opening Hacker Files Book 11) by Carsten Hansen (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 08, 2025 02:51PM · like
Carsten Hansen rated a book it was amazing Panik og taktik i åbningen - Bind 3: Flankeåbninger: Vind i 15 træk eller færre: Taktik, smukke sejre og brølere i skakåbningen (Danish Edition) by Carsten Hansen (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 08, 2025 02:50PM · like
Carsten Hansen is currently reading Denied Access (Mitch Rapp, #24) by Don Bentley (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 08, 2025 02:47PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Denied Access by Don Bentley. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Denied Access by Don Bentley <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Carsten Hansen is currently reading Strangers in Time by David Baldacci (Goodreads Author) Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee in Readers' Favorite Historical Fiction	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 08, 2025 02:46PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Strangers in Time by David Baldacci. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Strangers in Time by David Baldacci <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">