Chess: Carlsen loses three in a row twice as champion heads for World Cup
Garry Kasparov to take on world title challenger, Ian Nepomniachtchi, this weekendMagnus Carlsen suffered a rare double setback last weekend when the world champion twice lost three games in a row at the $100,000 Goldmoney Asian Rapid. The defeats occurred in his losing semi-final against the world No 5, Levon Aronian, then in his third place play-off against Ding Liren, though he still managed to defeat China’s world No 3. The 30-year-old Norwegian had an off day, missing several tactical chances.The No 1 has already qualified for the Meltwater Champions Tour final after winning the two previous events, so diminished motivation explains it. Next week he bids to try and put to rest a longstanding hoodoo when he makes his fourth attempt at the 206-player, $1.9m World Cup knockout in Sochi. Related: Chess: 12-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra breaks youngest grandmaster record Related: Chess: National solving championship opens for entries from Britain Continue reading…