Gukesh joins Abdusattorov and Praggnanandhaa in the lead of the Tata Steel Masters after 7 Rounds - 7

The Tata Steel Masters has only just past the half way stage and there is a three way tie between Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa on 5/7. World Champion Gukesh was the only one of these leaders who won today.

Gukesh beat Pentala Harikrishna on the white side of an Advance French. Harikrishna came up with a novelty of 11...Qb6 but then after 12.g4 didn't follow up with 12...Ncxd4 which he surely would have if he's really prepared this, he would then have had an unclear position. Gukesh immediately got an advantage but the position proved rather difficult for both sides, it was only after several adventures that the error 29...Nxe3? gave Gukesh a winning position. Tomorrow, in round 8, Gukesh faces Praggnanandhaa with black.

Both Jorden van Foreest and Praggnanandhaa hoped to surprise each other with in an interesting Sicilian but both knew what they were doing and the game quickly burned out to a draw. Anish Giri and Abdusattorov drew in an English Reversed Sicilian. Vladimir Fedoseev moved within half a point of the lead with a fine win over Vincent Keymer in a Semi-Slav. The only other decisive game was Max Warmerdam's win against Arjun Erigaisi, this game was notable for Erigaisi's really risky play and it just did not pay off at all, he probably needs to go into damage limitation now by trying to draw a few games, that would certainly be the old Soviet advice under such circumstances. Fabiano Caruana drew with Alexey Sarana, he might have had a knight for three pawns but he came nowhere near proving this was an advantage. Wei Yi and Leon Luke Mendonca drew an interesting Ruy Lopez, both players may have missed small chances to put pressure on their opponent.

In the Challengers Thai Dai Van Nguyen joined Erwin L'Ami in the lead after defeating Faustino Oro.

My thanks to Michiel Abeln for the photos and notes to the games. A full summary and these notes are in the body of the article.

Masters Round 7 Standings: 1st= Abdusattorov, Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa 5pts, 4th Fedoseev 4.5pts, 5th Sarana 4pts, 6th= Wei Yi, Caruana, Harikrishna 3.5pts, 9th= Keymer, Giri, Warmerdam 3pts, 12th Van Foreest 2.5pts, 13th Mendonca 2pts, 14th Erigaisi 1.5pts

Masters Round Pairings 8 Jan 26 at 13.00 GMT: Erigaisi vs Sarana, Keymer vs Caruana, Abdusattorov vs Fedoseev, Harikrishna vs Giri, Praggnanandhaa vs Gukesh, Mendonca vs Van Foreest and Warmerdam vs Wei Yi.

Challengers Round 7 Standings: 1st= Nguyen, L'Ami 5pts, 3rd= Bok, Lu 4.5pts, 5th= Nogerbek, Svane, Vaishali, Suleymanli 4pts, 9th Gurel 3.5pts, 10th Yakubboev 3pts, 11th Pijpers, Oro 2.5pts, 13th Divya 1.5pts, 14th Bulmaga 1pt.

Challengers Round 8 Pairings Jan 26 at 13.00 GMT: Erigaisi vs Sarana, Keymer vs Caruana, Abdusattorov vs Fedoseev, Harikrishna vs Giri, Praggnanandhaa vs Gukesh, Mendonca vs Van Foreest and Warmerdam vs Wei Yi.

Tienkamp Round 2 Standings: 1st= Smeets, Lohia, Grutter, Panesar 1.5pts, 5th= Holzke, Tudor, 1pt, 7th= Sofronie, Zwirs, Slagboom, Beukema 0.5pts.