Fabiano Caruana scored just one point in Round 3 and allowed Levon Aronian to catch up with him after beating Jan-Krzysztof Duda. Magnus Carlsen is just one point behind the leaders after winning the all-Norwegian battle with Aryan Tari.  

Jan-Krzysztof Duda’s woes continue as he suffered another defeat, this time at the hands of Levon Aronian. After quick exchanges in the opening, the opponents reached an absolutely equal rook endgame but by making one inaccuracy after another the Polish GM found himself in a tough position which he failed to hold.

Fabiano Caruana got some initiative with black pieces against Alireza Firouzja but the youngster managed to consolidate his position and the opponents shook hands on move 36. The Armageddon game saw the Queen’s Gambit Accepted with colors reversed in which Firouzja’s pawns on the queenside proved to be much more dangerous than Caruana’s central pawns. Alireza stopped the leader and now sits on 5.5 points.

Magnus Carlsen went for a sharp line of the Rauzer with Black but up to some point his opponent Aryan Tari was playing with precision and obtained a promising position. However, the younger of two Norwegians went astray on move 23 and then four moves down the road missed a spectacular blow 26…Re1!

Although the World Champion did not take the shortest way to victory, the result of the game was never in doubt.

Standings after Round 3:
1-2. Aronian, Caruana - 7
3.Carlsen - 6
4. Firouzja - 5.5
5-6.  Duda, Tari - 0