The games in the third round was as uncompromising as the ones from the first two rounds. The players are really doing their best to give the spectators full value for their entry fee, something best shown by the fact that only two of the nine games have ended in draws.
The highly anticipated encounter between Nigel Short and Nils Grandelius was a short (!) but intense one. Short surprised his opponent by playing 6.Qf3 in the Najdorf variation of the Sicilian. Grandelius reacted sensibly, but was later struck by a lightning bolt in the shape of 17.fxg6 followed by 18.Nf5!. The Swedish player could not find any alternative to accepting the piece sacrifice, allowing Short to energetically decide the game with a mating attack. In retrospect it is easy to point out that Grandelius probably should have delayed castling in favour of a queenside counterattack with 15...Rb8.
Emanuel Berg surprised Ivan Sokolov by playing the King's Indian as Black but was in turn surprised by Sokolov playing the unusual 5.Bg5. According to theory, 7...e5 is superior to Berg's 7...c5 and this game did nothing to prompt a re-evaluation of that conclusion. Berg managed to inflict serious damage to the white pawn structure but the possibility to use the rooks on the open d- and f-files was more than enough compensation for Sokolov. In serious timetrouble, Berg couldn't find any sensible defensive plan and the Dutchman crashed through along the f-file.
Tiger Hillarp Persson sacrificed a pawn early in the game against Tomi Nybäck. He had enough compensation and managed to regain the pawn later on. After about 30 moves the position looked quite equal, but Hillarp's 31.b3 seemed careless and should probably have been replaced by 31.Rxe8+. Nybäck won the exchange and this should have secured him the full point. However, he missed several good chances, e.g. 45...h3 46.gxh3 Rde6! or perhaps even simpler 52...Qb5. In the end Hillarp managed to escape with a draw.