Russian Grand Master Nepomniachtchi, playing under a neutral flag, had won the previous game in the series to take a slender advantage and had opened with a new move.

Ding responded in solid fashion with a "Queen's Gambit Declined" move which set the tone for the encounter and after 30 moves a draw was agreed.

"The draw is a pretty decent result for both of us," Ding admitted afterwards.

In the previous two encounters in the series, Ding had spent a lot of time away from the table.

“My friends helped me to deal with my emotional problems," he said. 

"Now I feel more comfortable on the stage.

"I am getting better. 

"As you can see, I spent more time on the stage than hiding in the resting room."

Overall, Nepomniachtchi leads 2-1 after three games of the 14-match series.

"The Queen's Gambit Declined is a very solid opening, so you're not going to achieve much, the most common case is when both sides play reasonably," Nepomniachtchi said.

"It is hard to disrupt the equality."

Ding will open on white in game four tomorrow.

The match is scheduled to continue until April 30.