Financial Times: Inside the Home of Magnus Carlsen

Inside the home (and mind) of world chess champion Magnus Carlsen

The grandmaster, who lives with his parents in Oslo, on why computers are ‘stupid’ but studying military history is useful

Magnus Carlsen playing chess at home in Oslo (© Ilja C Hendel)

By Mihir Bose

Magnus Carlsen, the world chess champion, has a great capacity for putting people at ease. Flight delays have made me an hour late, but there he is at the top of the stairs of his Oslo home, holding open the door and saying: “It’s all right, I understand.” Yet this is, probably, the greatest player in the game, mobbed by screaming fans wherever he goes and in such commercial demand that his black cotton jacket is a veritable advertising billboard. On one breast is the logo of a law firm, on another an investment bank, on one arm an electrical company, and on the other a prominent Oslo newspaper — just some of the deals that earn him about £1m a year.

A house with a view (© Ilja C Hendel)

Walking through the hall, he seems oblivious to his surroundings. He has just guided me to the sitting-cum-dining room. The walls are beige. We perch on a bright red sofa; just behind him are two empty picture hooks. When I ask about the clash of colours, and whether a painting has gone missing, he looks around as if he is seeing the room for the first time. “I bought this house a year ago and most of what you see was left behind by the previous owner,” he says. “You will have to ask my father.” Later, when I do, his father Henrik laughs. “The painting was taken by the previous owner. What I say is, ‘If it is vulgar and expensive then it is from the previous owner. If it is vulgar and cheap then it is ours.’ The sofa is vulgar and expensive.” ...

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