World champion Dommaraju Gukesh moved into the joint lead of the Tata Steel Chess Masters in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands, with a win in Round 7 against Pentala Harikrishna. Neither R Praggnanandhaa nor Nodirbek Abdusattorov managed a decisive result, so that allowed Gukesh to join them on five points at the top of the standings, heading into the second half of the tournament.
It was the second time at the tournament that Gukesh beat one of his seconds for the 2024 FIDE World Championship. He had earlier beaten Vincent Keymer, and now Harikrishna, who played one of Ding Liren's staple opening - the French. However, that didn't catch Gukesh by surprise, as he took control of the game by move 15, when Harikrishna made an inaccurate move.
However even from then on, Gukesh's path to victory wasn't really clear, even though he'd had the better position out of the opening. However, Gukesh kept improving his position, and eventually, Harikrishna resigned on move 45.
The other two decisive results in Round 7 came for Max Warmerdam and Vladimir Fedoseev, who beat Arjun Erigaisi and Vincent Keymer respectively. This was Arjun's 20th straight match without a win at the Tata Steel Masters, across the 2023 and 2025 editions. His performance so far at this tournament - 1.5 points out of 7 - has seen him lose a bunch of rating points, and has seen him lose his status as India's no.1 players in the live ratings.
Praggnanandhaa only managed a quick draw against another Dutch player Jordan van Foreest, while Leon Mendonca also drew against China's Wei Yi.
In Round 8 on Sunday evening, Gukesh faces Praggnanandhaa in a game that could possibly decide the destination of the 2025 Tata Steel Chess Masters title.
Round 7 Results at 2025 Tata Steel Chess Masters
Dommaraju Gukesh 1-0 Pentala Harikrishna
Jordan van Foreest 0.5-0.5 R Praggnanandhaa
Max Warmerdam 1-0 Arjun Erigaisi
Anish Giri 0.5-0.5 Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Wei Yi 0.5-0.5 Leon Luke Mendonca
Fabiano Caruana 0.5-0.5 Alexey Sarana
Vladimir Fedoseev 1-0 Vincent Keymer
Standings after Round 7
Dommaraju Gukesh: 5
R Praggnanandhaa: 5
Nodirbek Abdusattorov: 5
Vladimir Fedoseev: 4.5
Alexey Sarana: 4
Wei Yi: 3.5
Pentala Harikrishna: 3.5
Fabiano Caruana: 3.5
Anish Giri: 3
Max Warmerdam: 3
Vincent Keymer: 3
Jordan van Foreest: 2.5
Leon Luke Mendonca: 2
Arjun Erigaisi: 1.5