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Carsten’s Year In Books

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2026 Reading Challenge

2026

READING

CHALLENGE

Carsten Hansen has read 16 of 100 books.

16%

Carsten Hansen

Goodreads Author

Born

in Holstebro, Denmark

Website

http://www.carstenchess.com

Twitter

CazHansen

Genre

Nonfiction

Member Since

December 2013

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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

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Carsten Hansen's Blog

French Fireworks – Part I

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

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Published on August 29, 2017 01:59

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Carsten Hansen’s books

Average rating: 4.34 · 397 ratings · 18 reviews · 162 distinct works

	Back to Basics: Openings (Back to Basics: Chess Series) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 22 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 — 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
	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

José Raúl Capablanca: A Chess Biography

by Miguel A. Sánchez

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

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4 hours, 31 min ago

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She Dies Tonight (Artemis Blythe FBI #1)

by Georgia Wagner

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Feb 15, 2026 05:50AM

Carsten Hansen is currently reading

Alter Ego (Jonathan Stride, #9)

by Brian Freeman (Goodreads Author)

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

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Feb 14, 2026 12:43PM

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Carsten Hansen is 56% done with An Innocent Client An Innocent Client: A Joe Dillard Novel (Joe Dillard Series Book 1) by Scott Pratt (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
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Carsten Hansen is on page 24 of 277 of José Raúl Capablanca José Raúl Capablanca: A Chess Biography by Miguel A. Sánchez 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
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Carsten Hansen is currently reading José Raúl Capablanca: A Chess Biography by Miguel A. Sánchez	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
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Carsten Hansen rated a book it was amazing The Stepson by D.L. Fisher (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
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Carsten Hansen rated a book it was amazing Break Every Rule by Brian Freeman (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
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Carsten Hansen rated a book it was amazing The Canal & Prins Gambits: Two Surprising Weapons against the Queen’s Gambit (Opening Hacker Files) 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
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Carsten Hansen is currently reading She Dies Tonight (Artemis Blythe FBI #1) by Georgia Wagner	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
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Carsten Hansen wants to read Photograph by Brian Freeman (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
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