Magnus Carlsen reveals alarming reason behind three Classical defeats at Norway Chess 2026: 'There's just a mess...'

Magnus Carlsen avenged his opening round loss to Alireza Firouzja by beating the Frenchman in the latest round of the Norway Chess 2026 on Sunday, but the world No 1 remains fourth in the six-player standings after surprisingly losing three Classical games so far.

Carlsen has so far lost to Firouzja, R Praggnanandhaa and Wesley So, which is extremely rare for the highest-rated of all time. Even if Carlsen has limited his Classical outings, his uncharacteristic defeats, where he has been largely outplayed by his opponents, have raised alarm bells.

There's a feeling that the 35-year-old Norwegian is losing his chess powers.

Carlsen: 'There's just a mess in my head'

In a recent interview with the local broadcaster TV2, Carlsen admitted that there's a "mess" in his head, and that he isn't able to make the right calculations, which have been his biggest strength.

"It's just not working. He's doing a lot of good things and creating problems for me, but what I'm doing isn't good enough. There's just a mess in my head," Carlsen said after losing to Wesley So in Round 5 of Norway Chess 2026.

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"I completely missed his queen exchange.

"It's hard for me to make decisions, and the decisions I do make aren't very good. A lot of what I'm doing is just stupid.

"I have a general idea, but I don't remember any details."

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Carlsen added that not thinking straight has complicated his chances at Norway Chess.

"I'm playing too complicated for the state I'm in now. But I need to win games."

It must be noted that Carlsen had also suffered a shocking Classical defeat against Jorden van Foreest at the TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament last month.

It seems the losses in the Classical format for Magnus are also a result of his lack of preparation and match practice, besides poor calculation on the boards. The TePe Sigeman Chess Tournament in May was the first Classical tournament for the five-time world champion as he has massively reduced his participation in the longer format.