XTX London Chess Classic Open 2025 R7: Pranav Anand rejoins Praggnanandhaa in the lead
GM R Praggnanandhaa drew with his coleader GM Velimir Ivic (SRB) to stay at the top of XTX Markets London Chess Classic Open 2025. Praggnanandhaa drew the game in 24 moves when the position seemed unfavorable for him. GM Iniyan Pa lost to GM Ameet K Ghasi (ENG) after the former almost managed to recover from a difficult position, only to make a one-move tactical mistake. GM Pranav Anand defeated IM Nico Chasin (USA) to get back in the lead. Currently, Praggnanandhaa, Ivic, Pranav, GM David Gavrilescu (ROU), GM Daniel H Fernandez (ENG) and Ameet are sharing the lead with 5.5/7 each. Round 8 starts today at 4 p.m. local time, 9:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Yury Krylov / London Chess Classic
Half a dozen players at 5.5/7
Praggnanandhaa - Ivic: 0.5-0.5
The first-ever Classical rated game between GM Velimir Ivic (SRB, 2618) and GM R Praggnanandhaa (2768) ended in a draw in 24 moves when the former had a significantly better position.
Nico - Pranav
IM Nico Chasin (USA, 2512) blundered 22.Bxb5?? Find out the winning continuation which GM Pranav Anand (2581) played in the game.
Replay all Round 7 Open games
Round 7 results
| Bo. | White | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Rtg | PGN | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Ivic, Velimir | 2618 | 5 | ½ - ½ | 5 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2768 | PGN | ||
| 2 | GM | Iniyan, P | 2601 | 4½ | 0 - 1 | 4½ | GM | Ghasi, Ameet K | 2500 | PGN | ||
| 3 | IM | Chasin, Nico | 2512 | 4½ | 0 - 1 | 4½ | GM | Pranav, Anand | 2581 | PGN | ||
| 4 | GM | Kraemer, Martin | 2571 | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4½ | GM | Maze, Sebastien | 2534 | PGN | ||
| 5 | GM | Fodor, Tamas Jr | 2508 | 4½ | ½ - ½ | 4½ | GM | Smirin, Ilya | 2554 | PGN | ||
| 6 | GM | Sanal, Vahap | 2546 | 4½ | 0 - 1 | 4½ | GM | Fernandez, Daniel H | 2501 | PGN | ||
| 7 | FM | Kazarian, Anna-Maja *) | 2224 | 3½ | ½ - ½ | 3½ | IM | Mahadevan, Siva | 2424 | PGN | ||
| 8 | GM | Gavrilescu, David | 2542 | 4½ | 1 - 0 | 4½ | IM | Willow, Jonah B | 2472 | PGN | ||
| 9 | GM | Gasanov, Eldar | 2447 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | GM | Yuffa, Daniil | 2618 | PGN | ||
| 10 | IM | Aizenberg, Benny | 2444 | 4 | ½ - ½ | 4 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | 2560 | PGN |
Standings after Round 7
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Rtg | Club/City | Pts. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2768 | None | 5,5 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Ivic, Velimir | 2618 | None | 5,5 | |
| 3 | 5 | GM | Pranav, Anand | 2581 | None | 5,5 | |
| 4 | 10 | GM | Gavrilescu, David | 2542 | None | 5,5 | |
| 5 | 18 | GM | Fernandez, Daniel H | 2501 | 4NCL Wood Green | 5,5 | |
| 6 | 19 | GM | Ghasi, Ameet K | 2500 | Richmond And Twickenham | 5,5 | |
| 7 | 6 | GM | Kraemer, Martin | 2571 | Sc Heimbach-Weis-Neuwied | 5 | |
| 8 | 8 | GM | Smirin, Ilya | 2554 | None | 5 | |
| 9 | 11 | GM | Maze, Sebastien | 2534 | None | 5 | |
| 10 | 13 | GM | Cornette, Matthieu | 2517 | 4NCL Celtic Tigers | 5 |
Round 8 pairings
| Bo. | White | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Rtg | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2768 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Gavrilescu, David | 2542 | |||
| 2 | GM | Ghasi, Ameet K | 2500 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Ivic, Velimir | 2618 | |||
| 3 | GM | Pranav, Anand | 2581 | 5½ | 5½ | GM | Fernandez, Daniel H | 2501 | |||
| 4 | GM | Cornette, Matthieu | 2517 | 5 | 5 | GM | Kraemer, Martin | 2571 | |||
| 5 | GM | Smirin, Ilya | 2554 | 5 | 5 | IM | Rozen, Eytan | 2515 | |||
| 6 | GM | Maze, Sebastien | 2534 | 5 | 5 | GM | Fodor, Tamas Jr | 2508 | |||
| 7 | FM | Willems, Niels | 2368 | 4 | 4 | FM | Kazarian, Anna-Maja *) | 2224 | |||
| 8 | GM | Yuffa, Daniil | 2618 | 4½ | 4½ | IM | Roberson, Peter T | 2447 | |||
| 9 | IM | Harvey, Marcus R | 2438 | 4½ | 4½ | GM | Iniyan, P | 2601 | |||
| 10 | GM | Jumabayev, Rinat | 2560 | 4½ | 4½ | FM | Tulchynskyi, Feliks | 2409 |
