– I sat up at night with my hands in cold water. Couldn’t sleep. My shoulders ached and I was hyperventilating. The body collapsed and no doctor could explain why. Life was terrible, I lived in a physical nightmare. Simen Agdestein tells news. The Norwegian chess profile here gives a rare insight into a dramatic time – at the start of the 90s – when he went from being at the top of the world in chess and a national team player in football, to barely being able to walk. About an endlessly stressful time, with constant setbacks, where he, as the country’s first grandmaster in chess, finally lost the ability to concentrate. – After the last cruciate ligament operation, it took half a year before the elevation went down, the system collapsed. There was something about this operation that my body did not accept. It was absolutely terrible, he says. Roseraud’s youth Simen Agdestein was a multitalent as a youth. At the age of 17, he got a place on the junior national football team. The following year he became grandmaster in chess and was at the time the world’s youngest grandmaster. – Simen had everything a young man could dream of. He was handsome, good at chess and was a sought-after football player. The man was a paradox, apparently so successful, but at the same time so lost. AUTHOR: Atle Grønn has written the book “Chess that was”. The story of Simen Agdestein and his time”. Photo: Fredrik Hagen / NTB Orda belongs to Atle Grønn, international chess champion and author of a recent book about chess from the 80s onwards, seen through the eyes of Simen Agdestein. The book “The chess that was”. The story of Simen Agdestein and his time” is depicted as a psychological portrait of an awkward multi-talent who did not know what to do next. – Through football, Simen received a number of exciting professional offers, including in Besiktas, Flamengo Juniors, Aberdeen and Rosenborg, but he turned them all down. It was difficult to navigate adult life and he even ended up losing everything, says the author. Do you struggle with bad thoughts? The helpline for Mental Health Norway is open 24/7 on 116 123. You can also chat online. You can remain anonymous and they have a duty of confidentiality. Off the cliff aged 21, Agdestein made his debut for the A national team away against Italy. With success also came an external pressure of expectation that he struggled to cope with. – Very few people cared about my chess performance, but with football it suddenly became different. Everyone should have an opinion about what I did on the football pitch. Besides, I wasn’t particularly mature at the time and I didn’t know how to deal with adversity, says Agdestein. In May 1991, he suffered his first knee injury. When he returned to the start of the series in the spring of 1992, he experienced for the first time in his senior career being replaced during a game. It settles in the body. – For the very first time I started hyperventilating and could no longer control my body, he says. Collapsing pain got worse when Agdestein tore the cruciate ligament in the meeting with Sogndal in June 1992, but finished the match. Not only that, Agdestein played all 90 minutes a week later for Lyn away with Tromsø. After that, he hasn’t kicked a football. GREAT TALENT: Simen Agdestein wreaked havoc on the football pitch for Lyn. Photo: Morten Holm / NTB – Although this was a dark time, I tried to keep my spirits up. I traveled to Africa in between to write my master’s thesis in social science, about the transport sector in the southernmost countries on the continent. Eventually he was defined as a football invalid and had to face the fact that his career was over. – After the injury in 1992, I am impressed by how Simen has taken hold of his own life. How he has sought harmony, but at the same time challenged himself. He took singing lessons at the beginning of the 2000s and was in “Skal vi Danse” in 2006. His lifelong self-realization project fascinates me, says Grønn. CHESS PROFILE: Atle Grønn and Simen Agdestein pictured together in 2019. Photo: Fredrik Hagen / NTB Chess as a barometer Agdestein himself feels that he has lived life after the injury with the handbrake on. He lost a lot of his energy, he has learned to live with the knee pain. The day’s form is reflected in how he does it on the chessboard. As a teacher at the chess line at Norway’s top sports gymnasium, he has helped Magnus Carlsen on his way to the top. This summer, Simen Agdestein became Norwegian chess champion for the ninth time and tops the nobility calendar with it. – I have turned to most things, although everything after 1992 goes up and down a lot. As a 56-year-old, my head works better. The fact that I win the NM for the second year in a row proves that I have not become senile quite yet.For the record: Author Atle Grønn is connected to news as a chess expert.
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