Involving 49 moves and four-and-a-quarter hours play, game three was a relatively brief affair compared to the seven-hour marathon of the opening contest where Caruana had to battle for a draw.

After putting himself into a superior position in the second game, Caruana provoked a tenacious rearguard action from the 27-year-old Norwegian champion.

Game three, undertaken after yesterday's rest day, also presented opportunities for both players.

"I thought it was uncomfortable from the opening and I may have mixed something up," said Carlsen, who now stands at 1½-1½ with his 26-year-old challenger.

"Then I got an advantage in the endgame, I don't think I had any chances, but I would have liked to do something more…

"My results are okay but I can still improve."

Play continues in this International Chess Federation (FIDE) event tomorrow at The College, in Holborn.

Meanwhile the quarter-finals got underway in the FIDE Women's World Championships at Khanty-Mansiysk in Russia  - and defending champion Ju Wenjun was held to a draw in the first of her two scheduled matches with the surprise package of the event, Uzbekistan’s 19-year-old Guirukhbegim Tokhirjonova, who is world-ranked 40th.

The 27-year-old top seed needs to win her second match tomorrow to proceed.

A draw would result in the match going to a tiebreak.

The other notable result in the first round of last-eight matches was the 1-0 lead established by Kazakhstan’s 15th-ranked Zhansaya Abdumalik over Ukraine’s seventh-ranked former world champion Mariya Muzychuk.

Meanwhile Muzychuk’s fourth-ranked elder sister Anna stands level in her match against Russia’s fifth-ranked Alexandra Kosteniuk.

In the fourth quarter-final, Russia’s third seed  Kateryna Lagno holds a 1-0 lead over China’s 22nd-ranked Lei Tingjie.