Overview
- Javokhir Sindarov drew Anish Giri on Sunday to close the first half on 6/7, opening a 1.5-point lead at the midpoint of the 14-round double round-robin in Cyprus.
- Fabiano Caruana held R Praggnanandhaa to a draw, so the margin to Sindarov stayed at 1.5 points as the field turns to the return legs.
- Wei Yi earned his first win of the tournament by punishing Andrey Esipenko’s move-order mistake in a sharp Petroff, the day’s only decisive Open game.
- Anna Muzychuk kept the Women’s Candidates lead after a draw with Bibisara Assaubayeva, and R Vaishali closed to within half a point by defeating Tan Zhongyi.
- After the rest day, Round 8 follows, with both eight-player events sending their winners to title matches against D Gukesh and women’s world champion Ju Wenjun.