American GM Hikaru Nakamura commented on Magnus Carlsen’s performance at Norway Chess 2026. Hikaru says it has been a long time since Magnus started an event by losing 2/3 rounds, and believes Magnus is struggling with the tournament’s time control.

Hikaru Nakamura

Hikaru Nakamura

American GM, streamer

“Magnus, for the first time in I don’t know how long, has lost two games in the first three rounds of the 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. He’s struggling to find moves when he gets really low on time. With Alireza it was very similar — he got low on time and the instincts failed him. He made a big error when he was very low on time. It seems that this time control is playing real havoc for Magnus.

It seems to me is that Magnus is going to have to move a little bit quicker in some of these games. Try to avoid getting into these massive scrambles. Because thus far, if this continues, this could be a very, very tough tournament for him.

But I do expect him to come back and fight like the champion he is, in the coming rounds.”

At the 2015 Norway Chess, Magnus Carlsen started the tournament with 0.5/3. Magnus lost the first two rounds and drew the third game. In the 2026 edition of the tournament, Carlsen lost the first and third games to Alireza Firouzja and Praggnanandhaa R, and drew with Vincent Keymer in the second game. Magnus Carlsen is in last place with 1.5/9 points after three rounds.

The Norway Chess 2026 takes place from May 25 to June 5, at the Deichman Bjorvika public library, Oslo. The event features a 120+0 time control for the first 40 moves and a 10-second increment starting from move 41. The format is a double Round-Robin between 6 players. If the game ends in a draw, the players play Armageddon.

Credit: Yoav Nisenbaum / FIDE