D Gukesh played out a quick draw with World No. 2 Fabiano Caruana in the third round of Tata Steel Masters at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands on Monday.

The World Chess Champion, playing white, settled for a draw by repetition after just 24 moves. Gukesh remains unbeaten in the 14-player single round-robin event.

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After starting the campaign with a dramatic win over local favourite Anish Giri, Gukesh drew his second round against Vladimir Fedoseev. Gukesh had beaten Giri from the verge of getting checkmated. His opponent could not find the right play pattern to deliver the decisive blow and ended up losing from a winning position.

Both Gukesh and Giri were caught in a time scramble, and it was a tense affair not just for the players but even those watching. Caruana later said he felt his heart beat faster just by watching the Gukesh-Giri battle. "I went to the gym in the hotel.. it was exactly at this moment he (Giri) could play Be4, and it showed that he was winning," Caruana told the organisers.

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"Then I realised my heartrate was going up. I was getting too worked up, and it wasn't as I was on the treadmill. After the game was over I calmed down a bit," Caruana added.

With a FIDE rating of 2803, American Caruana is ranked second, behind Norway's five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen. Gukesh (2777) is ranked fifth in the world. Carlsen is not competing in the Tata Steel Masters. Gukesh will play black against Alexey Sarana in round four on Tuesday.

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