Magnus Carlsen Drops Four Games at Norway Chess, Now Fourth

In a surprising turn of events at the prestigious Norway Chess tournament in Oslo, world number one Magnus Carlsen is experiencing one of the most challenging stretches of his career, having suffered multiple defeats in the classical format. The Norwegian grandmaster, a seven-time champion of this event, has lost four games so far in the tournament, a rare occurrence for a player long considered the sport's dominant force.

Carlsen's setbacks began with an opening-round loss to France's Alireza Firouzja. He then fell to India's R. Praggnanandhaa in the third round, a game where Carlsen spent 28 minutes on a single early move, mismanaged his clock, and ultimately collapsed after a late recovery. This was followed by a defeat to American Wesley So in the fifth round, which marked Carlsen's worst tournament performance in eleven years. Praggnanandhaa defeated Carlsen again in the eighth round, capitalizing on a blunder by the world champion under time pressure.

Despite these losses, Carlsen showed resilience by avenging his earlier defeat to Firouzja in the sixth round with a victory he described as "old man chess." In a confessional booth, a tournament feature where players share...