Chess star Magnus Carlsen to marry girlfriend Ella Victoria Malone this weekend: Report

World No.1 chess player and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen is set to marry his girlfriend, 26-year-old Ella Victoria Malone, this weekend, Norway newspaper Verdens Gang has reported. As per the media house, Carlsen and Malone will be tying the knot at an undisclosed location this weekend. They have decided to keep their wedding venue and time a secret as they wish to have a peaceful wedding.

It’s not clear when the 34-year-old Carlsen started dating Malone but they were seen publicly together for the first time during the Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Challenge in Germany in February 2024. Malone had also accompanied Carlsen to the Champions Chess Tour Finals in Oslo and the World Rapid & Blitz Championships which recently ended in New York.

Carlsen to marry Malone this weekend

While speaking to The Straits Times recently, Carlsen revealed that Malone was born to an American father and Norwegian mother and after growing up in Oslo, Norway, she is now a permanent resident of Singapore.

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Carlsen had also described Malone as “understanding and supportive”.

“It’s very nice to have her with me. She is understanding and supportive. That’s nice and it’s good to have some distractions in case I don’t perform well,” he said while speaking to TV 2 during the Speed Chess Championship in September.

Carlsen faces controversy after shared Blitz title win

Meanwhile, Carlsen has found himself in a bit of controversy since winning the World Blitz title on 31 December for a record eighth time as he shared the trophy with Russia’s Ian Nepomniachtchi.

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The duo decided to share the trophy after three consecutive draws in the sudden-death stage. However, a video that quickly surfaced online showed Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi discussing plans to play out draws. It led to a massive furore with match-fixing allegations behind labelled against Carlsen.

Carlsen, however, defended his actions on X , saying that he wasn’t prearranging a draw but only made a joke.

“I’ve never prearranged a draw in my career. In the video I’m joking with Ian in a situation with lacking decisive tiebreak rules. This was obviously not an attempt to influence FIDE. It was said in the spirit that I thought FIDE would agree to our proposal. If anything it was a bad joke given the gravity of the situation,” Carlsen said on X.

“I think the match itself showed two players playing high level chess, equally matched and both deserving of a win.”