'Magnus feels Praggnanandhaa plays most similar to him': Carlsen's wife reveals, talks about Gukesh, Erigaisi

Magnus Carlsen’s wife, Ella Victoria Carlsen, has made a big reveal about who the world No.1 chess player feels is closest to him, style-wise on the board. Ella spoke about the trio of Indian chess stars D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi during the recently-concluded Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Las Vegas and discussed various matters regarding the young prodigies before revealing that Carlsen feels Praggnanandhaa plays the “most similar” version of chess to him.

The 19-year-old Praggnanandhaa has consistently proved to be a tough challenger for the five-time world champion and recently defeated Carlsen twice in the Las Vegas Freestyle Chess event.

More from Chess

Carlsen admits 'slow' mouse speed, acknowledges Indian GM Sarin's strength ahead of Esports World Cup 2025 chess event Magnus Carlsen asked to define Gukesh in one word, his reply will leave you in awe; watch video

Carlsen feels Praggnanandhaa is the player most similar to him

Talking about the Gukesh, Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa and their different game styles during a live stream with ChessBase India, Ella said: “All three (Gukesh, Pragg and Arjun) are very different, but Magnus did say that Pragg plays more similarly to him, the most similar to him.”

Carlsen is known to have a cordial relationship with Praggnanandhaa ever since the teenager made the headlines at the FIDE World Cup 2023, where he lost to the Norwegian in the final. Praggnanandhaa had defeated Hikaru Nakamura and Fabiano Caruana on his way to the final.

Recently, Carlsen finished third in the Las Vegas Freestyle Chess event and won a $100,000 prize as he was pushed out of the title race after a defeat to Praggnanandhaa in the group stage. He also recently suffered back-to-back defeats to reigning world champion Gukesh across Norway Chess and SuperUnited Rapid and Blitz Croatia in different formats after calling him a "weaker" player in an interview.

Coming back to Ella. She also spoke about Arjun Erigaisi and how the 21-year-old Indian Grandmaster is two different personalities on and off the board.

“I saw this like clip of Arjun where he was asked what was his biggest fears growing up and he said ‘ghosts’. I really liked that. I thought that was very cute. Arjun is very sweet, like when you talk to him in person. And then like over the board he’s just a maniac. He’s just out there hunting and going crazy,” Ella said.

Ella also recollected meeting Gukesh and his father Rajinikanth at one of the Freestyle Chess events. “I spoke to Gukesh and his father at Weissenhaus for the first time. They were very sweet,” Ella recalled.