Before becoming the Speaker of Parliament, she was one of the recognized figures in world chess. Even at the age of 16, she was not content with winning the Lithuanian women's championship, but also won the men's national championship. Later, she became a European champion, earned the grandmaster title, and transitioned into politics.
We are talking about Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen, the former Speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament (Seimas), who is currently the Vice-Speaker.
Modern.az website discusses her in the next article of its “Speakers” column.
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen led the Lithuanian Seimas from November 13, 2020, to November 14, 2024. After the 2024 elections, she retained her deputy mandate and has been serving as the Deputy Speaker of Parliament since November 14, 2024.
So, who is the hero of this extraordinary life story, which stretches from the chessboard to the leadership of the Lithuanian parliament?
Introduced to chess at 4 years old
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen was born on August 6, 1983, in Šiauliai, Lithuania.
Her father, Viktor, first showed her chess at the age of 4. Although little Viktorija didn't fully understand the rules of the game at that time, she started showing serious interest in chess a few years later.
At the age of 6, she joined the Šiauliai chess club, and from then on, chess became the main direction of her life. As she stated in one of her later interviews, she participated in competitions at an early age, and the feeling of winning further connected her to the game.
At just 7 years old, Viktorija became the Lithuanian champion in a group that included older children. In 1993, she won the European Youth Championship, and in 1995, the World Youth Championship.
Thus, the childhood years of the future Speaker of Parliament were already spent in international chess competitions.
Champion among men at 16
One of the most remarkable facts of Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen's chess career occurred in 2000. She was only 16 years old at the time.
That year, Viktorija won both the women's championship and Lithuania's absolute chess championship – where women and men competed together. The International Chess Federation (FIDE) notes that she was 16 years, 7 months, and 28 days old when she won the country's open championship in 2000, which was a record result in the history of the Lithuanian championship.
In 2005, Viktorija repeated this success.
Two golds at World Olympiads
Her international chess career is also rich in successes.
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen won gold medals at the Chess Olympiads in 2000 and 2004 as part of the Lithuanian women's national team. In 2006, she was among the prize-winners at the Women's World Championship.
In 2011, she achieved an even greater success, becoming the European individual champion among women.
In 2010, she was awarded the title of chess grandmaster.
Thus, when she entered politics, she already had considerable international recognition.
Her entry into politics was not accidental
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen's transition to politics is also an interesting point.
She joined the Liberal Movement of Lithuania in 2015 and entered parliament as a deputy that same year. Although she had participated in the elections in 2012, she had not won a deputy mandate. In 2015, she became a deputy by filling the vacant seat in the Seimas as a result of Remigijus Šimašius being elected Mayor of Vilnius.
According to her, the decision to enter politics was not sudden. She received a political offer at the peak of her chess career and discussed it with her future husband, Peter Nielsen, for a long time.
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen was re-elected as a deputy to parliament in 2016.
In 2018, she began leading the parliamentary faction of the Liberal Movement, and in 2019, she was elected as the party's chairwoman.
Thus, Viktorija, who once represented Lithuania on the chessboard, was now becoming one of the main figures on the country's political scene.
She took the parliamentary chair in 2020
On November 13, 2020, Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen was elected Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas.
Her term as Speaker covered the years 2020–2024. On November 14, 2024, after Saulius Skvernelis was elected Speaker at the first session of the new parliament, Čmilytė-Nielsen left this position. Since September 2025, Juozas Olekas has been leading the Seimas.
Čmilytė-Nielsen, however, did not leave politics.
She was re-elected as a deputy in the 2024 elections and has been serving as the Deputy Speaker of the Seimas since November 14, 2024. As the leader of the Liberal Movement, she also heads the party's parliamentary faction.
Married two famous chess players
Chess also holds a special place in Viktorija's personal life.
Her first husband was the famous grandmaster Alexei Shirov. Shirov represented Latvia and Spain and was considered one of the recognized figures in world chess.
The couple had two sons. Their marriage lasted approximately six years.
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen later said that this relationship was a family of two highly ambitious athletes, and such a relationship was not easy. She described the divorce as one of the most difficult experiences of her life.
But her second marriage was also connected to the world of chess.
In 2013, she married Danish grandmaster and coach Peter Heine Nielsen.
They had known each other for many years from chess competitions. Their relationship initially began as friendship and professional communication. Peter later moved from Denmark to Lithuania. The couple had two sons. Thus, Viktorija has four sons from two marriages: Dmitrijus, Aleksandras, Marius, and Kristijonas.
Interestingly, both of Viktorija's husbands were chess grandmasters.
Speaks four languages
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen was not only involved in chess.
In 2007, she graduated from the University of Latvia with a degree in English philology. She knows four languages: in addition to Lithuanian, she speaks English, Russian, and Spanish.
The current Vice-Speaker of Lithuania published her autobiographical book in 2018.
The book is titled “Between Black and White.”
The title of the book is also quite fitting for her life: the path that began with the black and white pieces on the chessboard in childhood extended years later to the chair of the Lithuanian parliament.
Chess and politics
One of the most interesting aspects of Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen's political career is that she has never hidden her chess background.
On the contrary, she has stated that chess played a certain role in shaping her interest in politics. In her opinion, some characteristics of chess and politics are similar: long-term thinking, calculating various options, and anticipating the opponent's next move.
But the biggest “move” in Viktorija's life happened not on the chessboard, but in real life.
The story that began with the chess pieces her father showed her at the age of four led first to world tournaments, and then to the Lithuanian parliament.
Viktorija Čmilytė-Nielsen is the former Speaker of the Lithuanian Seimas, current Deputy Speaker, deputy, and leader of the Liberal Movement. Her name remains in Lithuanian history as both a politician and one of the country's most successful female chess players.
A.Gorkhmaz
