A genius at the chessboard, at best average at home: Magnus Carlsen’s wife Ella Victoria has spoken in detail for the first time about her relationship with the best chess player in the world. She (almost) only has good things to say about her new husband.
On the first weekend of 2025, chess star Magnus Carlsen and his wife Ella Victoria celebrated their dream wedding in Oslo. Just a few months earlier, in spring 2024, the couple appeared in public together for the first time at a tournament in Germany. It wasn’t initially planned that their relationship would become public there.
“The original plan was that I wouldn’t be seen. But when we arrived at the venue on the first day and got out of the car, the cameras were there. I went one way without a destination, he went the other. After that “In an unpleasant moment we decided that we would show ourselves together,” reported Ella Victoria Carlsen on the “Sjakksnakk” podcast.
Chess genius Carlsen likes to leave the household behind
The 26-year-old is now not only an integral part of Carlsen’s private life, but is also involved in the chess genius’ professional life. She organizes various things such as interview appointments, explained Ella Victoria, who described herself as a kind of “secretary”.
The new wife, on the other hand, is much more than just a help in the private household. Her husband is “not really involved” there and also doesn’t have “a lot of practical skills.” But this is also “okay”.
“We usually go out to eat. And if the house needs to be cleaned, we have someone to help us. I do the laundry, he takes out the trash,” the 26-year-old gave an insight into daily life the superstar.
“He usually gets angry when he draws”
Due to his relationship with the world’s most famous chess player, his wife is now inevitably in the public eye. It was difficult for her to get used to it, said Carlsen, who doesn’t get much exposure on social media.
“You’re always curious about how you’re perceived. I don’t get a lot of hate comments,” she explained. However, the few that she gets “hurt”. Carlsen can still remember her first meeting with her new husband well. “He was really nice and very shy,” she revealed, without going into further details.
Magnus Carlsen is no longer nice and shy when he sits at the chessboard and doesn’t win. “He usually gets angry when he draws. He’s incredibly hard on himself. In these moments it’s best to just leave him alone,” Carlsen’s wife explained how the best player in the world reacts when he for once he doesn’t win.