Professional and amateur chess players lose games all of the time. Unless you are the World Chess Champion, then most people tend to not notice or make a big deal enough to blog about those losses. Magnus Carlsen is the current world champion of professional chess and is 0-2 in Norway Chess 2015. The first loss was stunning on its own, but the loss today to GM Fabiano Caruana continues the shock and awe among the chess faithful.
On a positive note, Carlsen did adhere to the appropriate time controls in this round and his game with Caruana was the only game played today that was not drawn. At one point, Nakamura looked bored at his board (ouch…grammar) against Topalov in a drawn position:
The rest of the games were drawn as well, which puts Carlsen in the tragic position of last place in the tournament. There is still a lot of chess to be played in this tournament, but Carlsen is the only player that has put up goose eggs on the board in the first two rounds. Since it will already take a significant act of concentration and willpower on Carlsen’s part, another loss could doom his chances at winning this prestigious tournament. A significant loss in Norway Chess would probably only serve to embolden the likes of Caruana and Nakamura who remain close behind to challenge him for the World Chess Championship in 2016. Play through all of the games from Round 3: