Magnus Calrlsen’s disastrous loss to Alisher Suleymenov in Qatar has gone round the world, partly because it was an excellent game but mainly because it was so unusual: Carlsen’s first defeat by such a relatively “weak” opponent since the Norwegian Championship of 2006! Unusual but not really that shocking. Anybody can have an off day, and the truly shocking thing is that Carlsen has managed for nearly two decades to avoid losing at classical chess to such an opponent. | Photo: Aditya Sur Roy