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Two classical victories marked the third round of the Norway Chess super-tournament in Stavanger. Fabiano Caruana continued his remarkable comeback by defeating Arjun Erigaisi with the white pieces, thus becoming the sole leader on 6 points.
World champion Gukesh Dommaraju also collected a full 3 points after convincingly beating Hikaru Nakamura, bouncing back from a difficult start to the event. The third confrontation of the day saw Wei Yi defeating Magnus Carlsen in Armageddon. Carlsen, who had the white pieces, again failed to convert a promising position and was ultimately outplayed in the sudden-death decider.
Standings after round 3
| Rk | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts |
| 1 | Fabiano Caruana | USA | 2776 | 6 |
| 2 | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2837 | 5 |
| 3 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2804 | 4½ |
| 4 | Arjun Erigaisi | IND | 2782 | 4½ |
| 5 | Gukesh Dommaraju | IND | 2787 | 3 |
| 6 | Wei Yi | CHN | 2758 | 2½ |
Wei Yi scored 1½ points in his confrontation against former world champion Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Michal Walusza
Gukesh Dommaraju entered round three without a point to his name, having suffered classical losses against Carlsen and Arjun in the first two rounds. The world champion, who turns 19 on Thursday, showed both mental resilience and positional precision as he overcame Hikaru Nakamura in a highly instructive game.
The players entered an Italian Opening, and Gukesh chose to close the queenside with 15.b5, leading to a more restrained strategic battle rather than open tactical chaos. A series of exchanges led to a simplified middlegame with each side holding a queen, a rook and a knight. Gukesh had a slight edge due to his superior pawn structure.
Nakamura, known for his strong positional feel, made an unexpected error on move 28 with 28...Rd8 - better was 28...Qc1+ 29.Rd1 Qc3
Gukesh responded accurately with 29.Rxd8+ Qxd8, and after 30.Nc6 Qd7 31.h4, the pressure was mounting. Nakamura then spent 22 minutes before faltering with 31...Qd6
Black's queen manoeuvre allowed 32.Nxa7, which gave White a queenside passed pawn. It was a clear misjudgement by the US grandmaster, who had otherwise navigated complex positions well in earlier rounds.
Gukesh proceeded methodically, gradually increasing his advantage. With Nakamura completely unable to generate counterplay, the game concluded ten moves later with Black's resignation in the following position.
It was a much-needed win for Gukesh, who not only opened his account but did so by defeating a top contender.
It was a major victory for Gukesh | Photo: Michal Walusza
After losing to Nakamura in round one, Fabiano Caruana has responded in exemplary fashion. In round two, he defeated Wei Yi with black, and on Wednesday he added another classical victory to his tally by beating Arjun Erigaisi in a sharp battle. The encounter began with a variation of the French Defence which led to a double-edged middlegame.
As the position opened up, Caruana demonstrated once again why he is considered one of the best calculators in the game. He managed the dynamic tension superbly, converting the middlegame complications into a favourable endgame without allowing counterplay. Arjun, who had looked confident in the earlier rounds, found himself under steady pressure and was gradually outplayed by the former World Championship challenger.
Caruana now leads the tournament standings with 6 points out of a possible 9, having won two games in classical chess and collected the maximum score available under the Norway Chess scoring system.
His current form evokes memories of his victory in the 2018 edition of Norway Chess, where he claimed first place ahead of Carlsen, Nakamura and Vishy Anand in a traditional ten-player round-robin event.
Analysis by GM Karsten Müller
| Caruana, Fabiano2776 | 1–0 | Erigaisi Arjun2782 | |||||||||||||||||||||
 | Norway Chess 2025 Stavanger28.05.2025[Mueller,Karsten] | | |||||||||||||||||||||
Anna Rudolf interviewing new tournament leader Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Michal Walusza
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