Parallels, the hosting and cloud services enablement leader, has announced a unique opportunity for Parallels Summit 2013 attendees to meet and challenge one of the smartest minds of our day, Magnus Carlsen. Parallels Summit is the leading global annual gathering of the cloud industry, scheduled from February 4-6, 2013, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.

At age 22, chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen is the No. 1 player in the world and has recently become the highest ranked chess player ever. Magnus has agreed to test wits with the best and brightest of the cloud services industry. At the reception he will be playing simultaneous chess matches against Parallels Summit attendees. They will get a chance to see first-hand how Magnus tackles such challenges.

“I am excited to join Parallels’ ecosystem of partners and customers at Parallels Summit 2013,” said Magnus Carlsen. "Cloud is where some of the brightest and most innovative minds of the IT industry are focused today, and I could be surprised at what they do.”

“I’m excited to have Magnus play at our Parallels Summit 2013,” said Birger Steen, CEO of Parallels. “Magnus embodies one of Parallels’ deepest beliefs: put the smartest people on the most difficult problems, and you will get results that exceed all expectations.”

About Parallels

Parallels is a worldwide leader in hosting and cloud service enablement and desktop virtualization. Founded in 1999, Parallels is a fast-growing company with more than 900 employees in North America, Europe, and Asia.

For more information, please visit www.parallels.com/spp, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ParallelsCloud, and Like Us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ParallelsCloud.

About Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen was born in Tønsberg, Norway. He learned to play chess from his father at the age of five. The game very soon became his big passion. Magnus became an International Grandmaster at the age of 13, the youngest at the time. In October 2009, during the Nanjing Pearl Spring tournament, he became the fifth chess player in history to achieve an Elo-rating over 2800 – and by far the youngest to do so. On January 1, 2010 the new FIDE list was published, and at the age of 19 Magnus became the youngest-ever chess player to be ranked World Number One. On the next official World Chess Ranking on January 1, 2013, Magnus Carlsen’s rating will be 2861, the highest ever in the history of chess.