Chess: Caruana leads at Stavanger after beating Carlsen in opening round

The US champion beat the Norwegian for the first time in eight years, then scored in his next two games to lead the 10-player event

Fabiano Caruana got off to a fine start this week at the Norway Chess elite event in Stavanger, where the US champion defeated Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, in the opening round and was a clear leader after three of the nine rounds.

Carlsen, in contrast, trails in eighth place, despite scoring after replays in his next two games against Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura. The Norwegian has won Stavanger for four years in a row, so it is too early to discount his recovery chances, but with only six rounds left his task is already difficult.

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