Hikaru Nakamura opens up on 'shift in generation' debate over Magnus Carlsen's shocking form: 'Young players are...'

World No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura has opened up a new debate over whether the new generation of players are taking over the mantle from Magnus Carlsen, the best player in the world.

Carlsen has for a long time ruled the world of chess as he has been at the top of the rankings and has won a plethora of tournaments. His titles include five world championships which he eventually willfully relinquished to shift focus away from classical chess.

However, his form in recent times has been shaky. He could not finish in the top three at the Norway Chess. If that could be ignored as an exception, his four back-to-back losses in Hong Kong at World Rapid and Blitz Team Championships, have given further fuel to the talks of his loss of form.

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Nakamura's analysis on Carlsen's form

Nakamura spoke after Magnus lost two straight games in Hong Kong. He lost to Arjun Erigaisi first and then to Armenia’s Shant Sargsyan. The two losses were shocking enough before two more came on the next day. However, Nakamura belives that Carlsen will bounce back.

“Yesterday Magnus suffered a shocking two defeats in a row to finish the day. It’s very uncharacteristic for him. But Magnus Carlsen is a great fighter, and we expect him to come back in fighting form," Nakamura said.

However, the American grandmaster also opened up an interesting debate on whether young players are forcing a "shift in the generations".

"It also begs the question with Magnus suffering for a second event in a row, whether we’re starting to see a shift in the generations. And whether the young players are finally starting to prove that they’re ready to step up and take the mantle of being the greatest player in the world.”

After Magnus' fourth straight defeat, Nakamura once again reacted, "This is simply something we just never expect to see from Magnus. The thing that's concerning is not Magnus losing four games in a row. It's the fact that Magnus is getting pretty much cleanly outplayed in seemingly every game that he loses. Magnus is getting outprepared, outclassed, and that is very, very uncommon. I think it is, on some level, time to start sounding the alarm bells."

The four straight losses took down Carlsen's rapid ratings to just above 2800, which is his worst since FIDE began keeping records in this time format in 2012.