Magnus toppled

Last week, world champion Magnus Carlsen suffered a devastating defeat in the first round of the Stavanger super tournament when he lost on time to Topalov, in what had been a winning position for the champion. This contradictory outcome lent wings to the Bulgarian grandmaster, who then stormed to one of his greatest tournament triumphs.
 
The normally irrepressible Carlsen, clearly unnerved by this unfortunate accident, went on to lose a further three games from the remaining eight, with just two wins to his credit.
 
Inevitably this once again prompts questions about Carlsen’s actual strength. True, he has achieved the highest rating of any player in history but there are those who explain this away, including Viktor Korchnoi, who ascribes the champion’s success to hypnotic power. Leaving such suggestions aside, titans of the past, such as Lasker, Alekhine and Botvinnik, would be turning in their graves at the catastrophic errors our champion is capable of making.