In the Petroff, Wang Yue gave up a couple of pieces for a rook and pawns. He was probably counting on his eighth rank pressure to hold the balance but unfortunately his rook became trapped whereupon Carlsen had little difficulty in converting his advantage.
Topalov's play seemed listless as Anand emerged from the opening with a solid comfortable game. Indeed it was soon Topalov who had difficulties, as his king remained in the centre. The queen and rook pseudo-endgame proved to be lost for White as Anand's pieces were too active.
Gashimov seemed to lack ideas in an opening where the queens came off and the Frenchman simply pushed his a-pawn to generate queenside play. Most of the game then revolved around the question of whether or not Bacrot could make something of his queenside in the rook and bishop endgame. He ultimately won despite being down to his last pawn.
Here is the third round summary:
| Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | 1-0 | Wang Yue | CHN | 2732 | Petroff Defence |
| Veselin Topalov | BUL | 2803 | 0-1 | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2800 | Queen's Gambit Declined Lasker |
| Vugar Gashimov | AZE | 2719 | 0-1 | Etienne Bacrot | FRA | 2716 | English Opening |
Here are the standings after the third round:
| Standing | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
| 1 | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | 2.5 |
| 2 | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2800 | 2 |
| 3 | Etienne Bacrot | FRA | 2716 | 1.5 |
| 4= | Veselin Topalov | BUL | 2803 | 1 |
| 4= | Wang Yue | CHN | 2732 | 1 |
| 4= | Vugar Gashimov | AZE | 2719 | 1 |
Today's three winners are ahead of the pack.
Here is a summary of previous rounds:
Round 1:
| Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2800 | 0.5-0.5 | Wang Yue | CHN | 2732 | Slav/Grünfeld |
| Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | 1-0 | Etienne Bacrot | FRA | 2716 | Scotch Opening |
| Veselin Topalov | BUL | 2803 | 0.5-0.5 | Vugar Gashimov | AZE | 2719 | Slav Defence |
Round 2:
| Wang Yue | CHN | 2732 | 0.5-0.5 | Vugar Gashimov | AZE | 2719 | Nimzoindian Defence |
| Etienne Bacrot | FRA | 2716 | 0.5-0.5 | Veselin Topalov | BUL | 2803 | Nimzoindian Defence |
| Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2800 | 0.5-0.5 | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2826 | Spanish Breyer |
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