So and Oparin score
Wesley So took command of the standings after defeating Sam Shankland with the white pieces in a Caro-Kann Defence. The victory gave So back-to-back wins and a 2½/3 score, placing him alone in first.
The 32-year-old explained that he had anticipated Shankland's choice of opening and prepared thoroughly, drawing on his experience working with his compatriot a decade ago. So also entered the game with a strong personal record against Shankland, having never lost a classical encounter between them.
From the early middlegame, So gained the initiative on the queenside after adopting a clear plan with 13.b4 Ka8 14.b5 Ng4 15.a4
Shankland's counterplay on the kingside never quite materialised, while White steadily improved his position on the opposite wing. The critical moment came when So struck with 28.Nxd4, a move that exploited the lack of coordination between Black's pieces.
Capturing with 28...Qxd4 would have lost to 29.Qxc6+ Rb7 30.Rb1 Nb4 31.Rxb4 Qxb4 32.a6, leaving White's pair of bishops dominant.
Shankland instead opted for 28...Nc3, but after 29.Be3 Rd8, So found the subtle 30.Qf1 - a move Shankland appeared not to have considered deeply according to So, who based his assertion on his opponent's facial expressions.
Here, 30...Rxd4 is bad due to 31.Qa6 Bd6 and 32.Rb1, when 32...Nxb1 fails to 33.Bxd4 Qxd4 34.Qxc6+ Kb8 35.Qc8#. This is just one of the many lines that prove how strong White's attack actually is, with the queen coming to a6
Thus, there followed 30...Nfd5 31.Bxd5 and the decisive mistake was 31...Qxd5, allowing 32.Qa6, which brought White's queen into a commanding attacking post under optimal conditions for So. The alternative, 31...Nxd5 32.Qa6 Nb4, could have delayed defeat but not prevented it.
Unlock the secrets of one of the most resilient and strategic openings in chess with our comprehensive video course, “The Caro-Kann Defence.”With his king stranded on a8 and his queenside collapsing, Shankland was forced to resign a few moves later.
The playing hall during round three | Photo: Lennart Ootes
The second decisive result of the round came from Grigoriy Oparin, who defeated Andy Woodward with the black pieces to recover from his first-round loss against Fabiano Caruana.
A tense middlegame arose after 31...a5, when both sides had pawn chains facing off on the fourth and fifth ranks of the queenside.
With limited time remaining, Woodward erred with 32.Qb1, missing the stronger 32.Qb3. Oparin immediately seized the initiative with 32...bxc4, and after 33.b5 c5 34.Qb2 Qf3, Black's forces coordinated perfectly.
Had Woodward chosen 32.Qb3, the same pawn capture with 32...bxc4 could have been met by 33.Qxc4, maintaining balance. Instead, the youngster was soon forced to give up material: after 35.Rac1 Rd5 36.b6 Rb8 37.Rd2 cxd4 (diagram below) 38.Rxd4 Bxd4, Oparin emerged with an extra exchange and no real difficulties in converting his advantage.
The other four games ended drawn. Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian, both playing black, were never in serious trouble and now share second place on 2/3. Abhimanyu Mishra extended his impressive unbeaten run in classical chess to 70 games after holding Dariusz Swiercz to a draw with black. In round four, So will face Mishra with the black pieces.
The King‘s Indian Attack is a universal opening: easy to learn, flexible, and rich in both tactical and positional opportunities.
Grigoriy Oparin | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Top seed and defending champion Fabiano Caruana is tied for second place with Levon Aronian | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Results - Round 3
Standings after round 3
All games
Sargsyan and Paikidze share the lead
Nazi Paikidze joined Anna Sargsyan in the lead on 2½/3 after a forceful win with the white pieces over Tatev Abrahamyan. The two-time US champion launched a strong kingside attack, culminating in the striking knight sacrifice 21.Nef5
White activated her pieces decisively via 21...gxf5 22.g6 f4 23.Nf5 Rfd8 24.Qxh5, and most of Black's army is stuck on the queenside unable to help in defence.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves
Once the sacrifice landed, Black's position collapsed rapidly - Abrahamyan, notably, allowed her opponent to show checkmate on the board.
Nazi Paikidze | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Anna Sargsyan, meanwhile, retained her share of first place after surviving a difficult encounter with Jennifer Yu. The game was a tense, double-edged battle in which Yu obtained a superior position in the middlegame but struggled to maintain control as her clock ticked down. Twenty minutes behind on time, Yu let her advantage slip, and by the end Sargsyan was the one pressing, though converting a rook versus bishop ending was never realistic.
The pure rook v. bishop endgame was reached here, on move 69, and Sargsyan continued testing her opponent until a draw was agreed on move 97.
The game between Jennifer Yu and Anna Sargsyan is drawn after a lengthy struggle in a technical endgame | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Besides Paikidze, three more players collected win on Tuesday: Irina Krush, Alice Lee and Thalia Cervantes. Krush and Lee both have yet to sign a draw in the event, as each has two wins and a loss for a 2/3 score.
From Mating with a queen; a rook; two bishops; a knight and a bishop; to the basics of pawn endgames – here you will gain the necessary know-how to turn your endgame advantages into victories!Thalia Cervantes, on her part, scored her first victory of the tournament by defeating Atousa Pourkashiyan. As noted by GM Karsten Müller in his analysis below, Pourkashiyan missed a key defensive chance in a rook endgame with pawns on both sides of the board.
Thalia Cervantes | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Cervantes 1-0 Pourkashiyan
Analysis by GM Karsten Müller
Results - Round 3
Standings after round 3
All games
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