Carlsen Leads Convincingly After 3 Rounds at Norway Chess

Photo: Lennart Ootes / Altibox Norway Chess

So far at Norway Chess, Magnus Carlsen is looking like his peak self. After only 3 rounds, he's gained a convincing full point lead on the field, winning two games while no other player has achieved a result higher than a draw. Watch as the World Champion effortlessly drums up a winning attack against Levon Aronian:

[pgn][Event "Altibox Norway"]
[Site "0:31:33-0:01:33"]
[Date "2018.05.30"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Magnus Carlsen"]
[Black "Levon Aronian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C67"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2q2k1/1ppb1pnp/3p2p1/p2P4/P2Q4/4RN1P/1PP2PP1/5BK1 w - - 0 23"]
[PlyCount "17"]
[EventDate "2018.05.27"]23. g4 $5 c6 24. c4 Ne8 25. Qf4 Kg7 26. Rb3 Rb8 27. Ng5 Nf6 28. Rf3 h6 29. Ne4
Nxe4 30. Qxf7+ Kh8 31. Qxg6 {and, because of Carlsen's duo threats of Rf7 and
regaining his knight to have a 2 pawn advantage, Aronian resigned.} 1-0[/pgn]

Graphic: Chess.com

https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1001886818999119872 https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1001875281504866304 https://twitter.com/amanhambleton/status/1002075235213037568 .

Can the world's top GMs cook?

In a unique rest day activity, the players competed in a Master Chef style cook off, teaming up to prepare the best fish dish. The competition took place in the kitchen of the playing venue, Clarion Hotel Air.

The Teams

Team 1:

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave & Levon Aronian

Natural chefs. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Altibox Norway Chess

Team 2:

Shahriyar Mamedyarov & Hikaru Nakamura

Nakamura looks like he's done this before. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Altibox Norway Chess

Team 3:

Ding Liren & Viswanathan Anand

Anand, the old pro. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Altibox Norway Chess

Team 4:

Sergey Karjakin & Fabiano Caruana

An unlikely duo, Carlsen's two most recent Challengers. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Altibox Norway Chess

Team 5:

Wesley So & Magnus Carlsen

A friendly pair! Photo: Lennart Ootes / Altibox Norway Chess

. Each team prepared the same dish of fish, vegetables, and Hollandaise Sauce. . https://twitter.com/NorwayChess/status/1002187968608686081 . Some teams were well balanced while others were a bit skewed... . https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1002181311388377094 . https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1002187472225406976 https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1002187863885303809 . https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1002201663426490368 . https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1002189227080212480 . A panel of judges tasted each dish and chose the winner. . https://twitter.com/Anna_Chess/status/1002215798587478016 . https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1002213355526991873 . https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1002211783891963905 . In the end, Anand and Ding won the cook off with their tasty dish. . https://twitter.com/TarjeiJS/status/1002217207563243520

For more information, visit:

The Official Website
Chess.com's Round 3 Report: "Carlsen Beats Aronian, Expands Lead at Norway Chess"

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vanessa West is a regular writer and digital assistant for US Chess News. She won the 2017 Chess Journalist of the Year award. You can follow her on Twitter: @Vanessa__West