A sharp Caro-Kann advance seemed to go wrong very quickly for Inarkiev as a pin along the a5-e1 diagonal led to White losing a pawn. So Eljanov wins again with Black and retakes the lead.
Alekseev moves up to after gradually outplaying Akopian in a closed Spanish keeping the Armenian firmly at the bottom of the tournament.
| Game No. | Name | Rating | Result | Name | Rating | Opening |
| 1 | Peter Leko | 2735 | 0.5-0.5 | Vassily Ivanchuk | 2741 | Spanish Stienitz Deferred C75 |
| 2 | Evgeny Alekseev | 2700 | 1-0 | Vladimir Akopian | 2694 | Spanish Chigorin C97 |
| 3 | Teimour Radjabov | 2740 | 0.5-0.5 | Dmitry Jakovenko | 2725 | Catalan/Bogoljubov E11 |
| 4 | Ruslan Ponomariov | 2733 | 0.5-0.5 | Boris Gelfand | 2741 | Slav Defence D12 |
| 5 | Ernesto Inarkiev | 2669 | 0-1 | Pavel Eljanov | 2751 | Caro-Kann B12 |
| 6 | Wang Yue | 2752 | 0.5-0.5 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2763 | King's Indian defence E68 |
| 7 | Vugar Gashimov | 2734 | 0.5-0.5 | Peter Svidler | 2735 | Spanish Breyer C95 |
There were three Spanishes today, apart from Akopian's downing the other two led to long endgames.
Ivanchuk was always a shade worse but was able to steer the game into a drawn rook ending despite being a pawn down.
Gashimov had a pull going into an opposite bishop ending, but never really looked like breaching Svidler's defences. Svidler now has six draws plus one accident and will be slightly frustrated not to have won any games yet. He will however be pleased that England won the Twenty20 World Cup in cricket, as he is an ardent supporter of Her Majesty's team in that so-British of sports!
Radjabov pushed long and hard but couldn't win, so that makes seven draws for him!
The rankings after seven rounds:
| Ranking | Name | Country | Present Rating | Points |
| 1st | Pavel Eljanov | Ukraine | 2751 | 4.5 |
| 2nd-6th | Evgeny Alekseev | Russia | 2700 | 4 |
| 2nd-6th | Vugar Gashimov | Azerbaijan | 2734 | 4 |
| 2nd-6th | Ernesto Inarkiev | Russia | 2669 | 4 |
| 2nd-6th | Dmitry Jakovenko | Russia | 2725 | 4 |
| 2nd-6th | Peter Leko | Hungary | 2735 | 4 |
| 7th-9th | Boris Gelfand | Israel | 2741 | 3.5 |
| 7th-9th | Teimour Radjabov | Azerbaijan | 2740 | 3.5 |
| 7th-9th | Wang Yue | China | 2752 | 3.5 |
| 10th-13th | Vassily Ivanchuk | Ukraine | 2741 | 3 |
| 10th-13th | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | Azerbaijan | 2763 | 3 |
| 10th-13th | Ruslan Ponomariov | Ukraine | 2733 | 3 |
| 10th-13th | Peter Svidler | Russia | 2735 | 3 |
| 14th | Vladimir Akopian | Armenia | 2694 | 2 |
Five players are on Eljanov's heels. At the bottom Akopian is at risk of losing touch with the others.
For further information on this event, I suggest that you go to the official tournament site.
