Praggnanandhaa outclassed Alireza who apparently overrated his position after the opening.

The Rossolimo against the Sicilian is known to be a potent weapon but Alireza went astray right from the early stages of the middle game.

Praggnanandhaa found the right moves at the right time and seized the initiative by attacking the centre wherein his pair of Bishops had a towering impact on white’s centre.

Alireza kept looking for some tactical solutions that never saw the light of the day and ended up blundering in a lost endgame.

The game was over in just 27 moves.

Gukesh started with the Berlin defense as black and Wesley decided to push for an advantage by not going for the traditional endgame.

The opening favoured Wesley a little as Gukesh gave the Bishop pair and it was a dynamic balance on the board in the early middle game.

Gukesh lost a pawn while trying to create counter play and Wesley was relentless as he also carried out an attack on the king side.

Gukesh lost his queen for two minor pieces and it was all over soon.

Results round 7:

Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 3) lost to R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 4.5)

Duda Jan-Krzysztof (Pol, 3.5) beat Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 1.5)

Wesley So (Usa, 4) beat D Gukesh (Ind, 3)

Fabiano Caruana (USA, 4.5) drew with Levon Aronian (USA, 4)

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 3.5) drew with Samuel Sevian (USA, 3.5)