Nakamura says Norway Chess 'has no value', sheds light on his future in Classical format: ‘From a practical standpoint...'

American chess icon and popular streamer Hikaru Nakamura has described Norway Chess, one of the most prestigious tournaments in the sport, as one that "has no value". Nakamura further revealed that he was invited to the tournament, as was fellow American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana, but both players turned it down after participating at the Fide Candidates tournament in Cyprus last month.

"I want to clarify one other point as well. I was invited to Norway Chess. Fabiano was also invited, and we both said no," world No 2 Nakamura was quoted by Endgame AI as saying in a recent live stream.

"In my case, I said no because, from a practical standpoint, Norway Chess has no real value. The only thing that really interests me in classical chess is playing something like the Candidates," he continued.

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A major reason behind Norway Chess' importance in the sport's calendar is the participation of world No 1 Magnus Carlsen. The Norwegian GM has been semi-retired from the format since opting against defending his world title in 2023 but participates at his home event every year and is currently chasing a record-extending eighth Classical title.

While Nakamura and world No 3 Caruana have turned down skipped the tournament after a hectic Candidates campaign, where they finished third and fifth respectively, the 2026 Norway Chess isn't short on star power with reigning world champion D Gukesh and world No 7 Vincent Keymer among those in action.

Nakamura going the Carlsen way? 

Nakamura also added that like Carlsen, he will also be limiting his participation in Classical tournaments going forward and will be focusing on the faster Rapid and Blitz formats.

"The only classical tournaments that I’ll probably play are something like the Total Chess World Championship and maybe the American Cup in Saint Louis. Otherwise, I’m going to focus on rapid and blitz and online chess rather than classical chess," added the five-time US champion, who is among the top-five players in the world in all three formats.

As for the Norway Chess, which has moved to capital Oslo from Stavanger this year, defending champion and hot favourite Carlsen finds himself at the bottom of the six-player standings after collecting just 1.5 points in the first three rounds.

Carlsen is yet to win a single Classical game so far in the tournament, suffering defeats against Alireza Firouzja and India's R Praggnanandhaa. He had played out a draw with Keymer before beating the German GM in the subsequent Armageddon face-off.