Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, is currently having his worst tournament for 11 years, and it’s not over yet.
The 35-year-old had previously won Norway Chess on home soil for six of the past seven years, and seemed in good form following a recent victory at Malmö, Sweden.
However, his current tournament in Oslo has not gone according to plan. A rusty Carlsen lost to France’s injured Alireza Firouzja in round one, then Carlsen spent 28 minutes on a single move in the opening against India’s Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in round three.
In that game, Carlsen squandered too much time early on, stood worse, recovered strongly via a brilliantly judged exchange sacrifice, then collapsed again at the end.
After three rounds, Carlsen was last of the six players and in round four met Gukesh Dommaraju, against whom he had famously punched the table in frustration after losing to the reigning world champion in Norway 2025.
