Candidates chess: Vachier-Lagrave catches up with Nepomniachtchi

With seven rounds remaining, France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won in 42 moves against Ian Nepomniachtchi, to take the joint lead with the Russian.

A delighted Maxime Vachier-Lagrave after moving into joint lead with Ian Nepomniachtchi at the Candidates chess tournament.

Ian Nepomniachtchi's great run in the Candidates chess tournament finally came to an end. The Russian, who had been in the sole lead after posting two successive wins, was outplayed by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the seventh round.

The Frenchman, who faced French Defence from Nepomniachtchi, won in 42 moves to take the joint lead. With seven rounds remaining, the duo scored 4.5 points each, one more than their closest rivals.

Nepomniachtchi, top seed Fabiano Caruana of the United States, China's Wang Hao, Anish Giri of the Netherlands and Russian Alexander Grischuk share the second spot, with 3.5 points apiece.

The game between Vachier-Lagrave and Nepomniachtchi was the only one that produced a result in the seventh round. The other three games were drawn.

The results (seventh round): Fabiano Caruana (US) 3.5 drew with Wang Hao (Chn) 3.5; Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) 4.5 bt Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus) 3.5; Ding Liren (Chn) 2.5 drew with Kirill Alekseenko (Rus) 2.5; Anish Giri (Ned) 3.5 drew with Alexander Grischuk (Rus) 3.5.