In a thrilling chess game in the third round of the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, Arjun Erigaisi faced off against his friend R Praggnanandhaa in an all-Indian battle where the 21-year-old succumbed to a bitter defeat after a fiercely contested battle lasting 60 moves.

This result marks a notable downturn for Erigaisi, as he has now gone without a victory in the Tata Steel event for three seasons, a streak that dates back to his triumph in the Challengers section in 2022.

The match showcased both players' skills and highlighted the emotional weight of competing against a close friend.

Meanwhile, World champion D Gukesh had it easy in the third round as the Indian played out a draw with top seed Fabiano Caruana of the United States.

Gukesh thus moved to 2 points out of a possible three in the first major tournament of the year.

Playing white, it was a rare game by Gukesh as he decided against taking any risks. The Queen pawn opening was met by the Ragozine defense and Caruana acted true to the will of the position to expand his king side pawns.

On another day, Gukesh would have gone all out but here the Indian decided pretty soon that fighting for an advantage was probably not on cards.

This was the first game to end in the Masters' section and it lasted just 24 moves as the draw was agreed to vide repetition of moves.

Gukesh and Caruana are both on two points after the result and it remains to be seen who among the rest could overtake them.

(With PTI Inputs)

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