GMT R5: The defending champion rises to the top
Pranav - Aryan, MTO Round 7
Black's king is more vulnerable than White's. Hence, GM Pranav Anand (2510) need not be worried about keeping the queens on the board. 45.Qd2 would have been a better continuation as it would not have been easy to thwart White's attack. 45...R1a2 does no good for Black 46.R4f5 Qf8 47.Rxh6+ Kg8 48.Qf4 Rxc2 49.Rg5+ Ng6 50.hxg6 is one of the many ways White could have won by declining the queen exchange. 45.Qxc8 Rxc8 reduced White's chances drastically. Still he had a decisive advantage, albeit not as much as before. However, GM Aryan Chopra (2626) eventually managed to salvage a half point.
Aditya Samant - Yuffa
GM Daniil Yuffa (ESP, 2603) decided to sacrifice an exchange 14...bxc3 15.Bxa8 Qxa8 16.exf6 cxb2+ 17.Bxb2 gxf6 18.Qe3 Black never got enough compensation for the exchange. IM Aditya S Samant (2510) played masterfully to convert his advantage into a win.
Replay GMT Round 5 games
Replay MTO Round 7 games
GMT Scoring
Rapid: Win = 2 points, Draw = 1 point and Loss = 0
Classical: Win = 4 points, Draw = 1.5 points and Loss = 0
Blitz: Win = 1 point, Draw = 0.5 point and Loss = 0
GMT Round 5 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||
| 1 | 3 | 2735 | GM | Yu, Yangyi | 0 - 1 | GM | Le, Quang Liem | 2728 | 8 | |
| 2 | 4 | 2689 | GM | Navara, David | ½ - ½ | GM | Keymer, Vincent | 2690 | 2 | |
| 3 | 5 | 2694 | GM | Amin, Bassem | ½ - ½ | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | 2693 | 1 | |
| 4 | 6 | 2710 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | ½ - ½ | GM | Moussard, Jules | 2654 | 7 |
Standings after Round 5
Round 6 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||
| 1 | 8 | 2728 | GM | Le, Quang Liem | GM | Moussard, Jules | 2654 | 7 | ||
| 2 | 1 | 2693 | GM | Deac, Bogdan-Daniel | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2710 | 6 | ||
| 3 | 2 | 2690 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GM | Amin, Bassem | 2694 | 5 | ||
| 4 | 3 | 2735 | GM | Yu, Yangyi | GM | Navara, David | 2689 | 4 |
MTO Round 7 results
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | PGN | ||
| 1 | 1 | GM | Bu, Xiangzhi | 2676 | 5 | 1 - 0 | 4½ | GM | Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son | 2645 | 2 | PGN |
| 2 | 10 | GM | Pranav, Anand | 2510 | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4½ | GM | Aryan, Chopra | 2626 | 3 | PGN |
| 3 | 11 | IM | Samant, Aditya S | 2510 | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | GM | Yuffa, Daniil | 2603 | 4 | PGN |
| 4 | 39 | FM | Deuer, Marius | 2374 | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4½ | GM | Albornoz Cabrera, Carlos Daniel | 2591 | 5 | PGN |
| 5 | 9 | GM | Liu, Yan | 2542 | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | WGM | Vantika, Agrawal | 2428 | 28 | PGN |
| 6 | 13 | Peng, Xiongjian | 2489 | 4 | 1 - 0 | 4½ | IM | Rodrigue-Lemieux, Shawn | 2495 | 12 | PGN | |
| 7 | 23 | IM | Sanchez Alvarez, Roberto Carlos | 2444 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | GM | Meshkovs, Nikita | 2565 | 7 | PGN |
| 8 | 41 | FM | Dotzer, Lukas | 2369 | 4 | 0 - 1 | 4 | GM | Quesada Perez, Luis Ernesto | 2553 | 8 | PGN |
| 9 | 16 | IM | Samadov, Read | 2482 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | Huang, Renjie | 2445 | 22 | PGN | |
| 10 | 17 | IM | Wang, Chen | 2477 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | FM | Weishaeutel, Moritz | 2442 | 24 | PGN |
Standings after Round 7
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | |
| 1 | 1 | GM | Bu, Xiangzhi | CHN | 2676 | 6 | 27,5 | 165,5 |
| 2 | 9 | GM | Liu, Yan | CHN | 2542 | 5,5 | 27,5 | 159 |
| 3 | 11 | IM | Samant, Aditya S | IND | 2510 | 5,5 | 25,5 | 159 |
| 4 | 3 | GM | Aryan, Chopra | IND | 2626 | 5 | 29,5 | 159,5 |
| 5 | 39 | FM | Deuer, Marius | GER | 2374 | 5 | 27,5 | 153 |
| 6 | 20 | IM | Chasin, Nico | USA | 2455 | 5 | 27,5 | 148 |
| 7 | 10 | GM | Pranav, Anand | IND | 2510 | 5 | 27 | 162,5 |
| 8 | 5 | GM | Albornoz Cabrera, Carlos Daniel | CUB | 2591 | 5 | 25 | 157 |
| 9 | 8 | GM | Quesada Perez, Luis Ernesto | CUB | 2553 | 5 | 24,5 | 154 |
| 10 | 13 | Peng, Xiongjian | CHN | 2489 | 5 | 24 | 159,5 |
Round 8 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Name | Rtg | No. | ||
| 1 | 11 | IM | Samant, Aditya S | 2510 | 5½ | 6 | GM | Bu, Xiangzhi | 2676 | 1 | |
| 2 | 8 | GM | Quesada Perez, Luis Ernesto | 2553 | 5 | 5½ | GM | Liu, Yan | 2542 | 9 | |
| 3 | 18 | IM | Saraci, Nderim | 2472 | 5 | 5 | GM | Aryan, Chopra | 2626 | 3 | |
| 4 | 5 | GM | Albornoz Cabrera, Carlos Daniel | 2591 | 5 | 5 | IM | Rathanvel, V S | 2463 | 19 | |
| 5 | 20 | IM | Chasin, Nico | 2455 | 5 | 5 | GM | Pranav, Anand | 2510 | 10 | |
| 6 | 39 | FM | Deuer, Marius | 2374 | 5 | 5 | Peng, Xiongjian | 2489 | 13 | ||
| 7 | 2 | GM | Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son | 2645 | 4½ | 4½ | IM | Sanchez Alvarez, Roberto Carlos | 2444 | 23 | |
| 8 | 4 | GM | Yuffa, Daniil | 2603 | 4½ | 4½ | IM | Harikrishnan, A Ra | 2406 | 32 | |
| 9 | 22 | Huang, Renjie | 2445 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Meshkovs, Nikita | 2565 | 7 | ||
| 10 | 12 | IM | Rodrigue-Lemieux, Shawn | 2495 | 4½ | 4½ | IM | Shlyakhtenko, Robert | 2401 | 33 |
