World Chess Weekly: Magnus Reminds Us Who's Daddy At Norway Chess
GM Magnus Carlsen's form has been under the microscope this week—as it always is at Norway Chess, a super-GM tournament where everyone expects the new father from nearby to reign supreme.
Norway Chess may be the Norwegian's home event which he has won seven times, but doing so again with such a stacked field will be far from easy. Especially this year.
Carlsen began the 2026 edition with a painful loss against an opponent, in GM Alireza Firouzja, whose pain was more literal as he had to play with an injured ankle.
Carlsen then had a disappointing draw with GM Vincent Keymer before eventually prevailing over Germany world number-seven in Armageddon.
Another loss to GM Praggnanandhaa R followed, this time after being outplayed for most of the game. Carlsen's Round 3 reverse left him bottom of the leaderboard—not what we expect to see in Norway.
Nakamura's View
Carlsen's big rival GM Hikaru Nakamura, who isn't playing Norway, gleefully remarked: "Magnus, for the first time in I don’t know how long, has lost two games in the first three rounds of a classical tournament. It's probably been at least 10 plus years, maybe even longer than that…
"It seems to me that he’s struggling with this time control quite a bit."
However, Nakamura did go on to say: "But I do expect him to come back and fight like the champion he is, in the coming rounds."
But in Round 4 on Thursday his fortunes changed. A win for the former World Champion, who relinquished his crown, over the actual World Champion, GM Gukesh D, showed exactly who's the real number-one.
Playing with the black pieces, 35-year-old Carlsen gradually outplayed his teenage opponent Gukesh in a complex game.
Happy Birthday Gukesh
The position remained balanced for much of the struggle before the Norwegian star seized his opportunity in the middlegame. Under increasing pressure and time trouble, Gukesh—who celebrated his 20th birthday on Friday—was unable to hold the position.
Carlsen was free to convert his advantage and secure an important classical victory.
The win gave Carlsen a valuable 3 points in the tournament standings as he seeks to recover from a slow start on home soil. Slow starts are, however, his thing, as he demonstrated at the recent the TePe Sigeman tournament in Sweden which he went on to win.
Carlsen has some work to do, but the sense is the Carlsen train has started up again. And remember, this is his tournament (almost literally).
Elsewhere
Norway Chess has dominated the week of chess. All the attention has rightly been focussed on Oslo, where the big stars are. So far, the tournament has fully delivered with exciting chess and a ton of drama.
The remaining two games in the open tournament ended in draws after hard fought battles.
GM Wesley So and Firouzja played a strategic encounter that neither player was able to break open, with the game eventually concluding peacefully. So later prevailed in the Armageddon game, securing the additional points.
Keymer and Praggnanandhaa fought a balanced contest that saw chances for both sides but ultimately ended in a draw. Pragg went on to win the Armageddon game, earning valuable additional points.
Following round four, Firouzja remains in the tournament lead, while Carlsen's victory leaves him on 4.5 points and significantly strengthens his position in the standings.
Round 5 starts on Saturday at 16:00 GMT. You can watch the games with commentary at the Norway Chess website here.