Black has given up his dark-square bishop, so his strategy is to fight for the light-square complex. With his last move, he prepares to hit the c4-pawn with ...Ba6.
1. d2d4  1... g8f6  2. c2c4  2... e7e6  3. g1f3  3... d7d5  4. b1c3  4... f8b4  5. d1a4 Gukesh repeats the move that he used successfully in round six against Sargissian. 5... b8c6  6. e2e3  6... e8g8  7. c1d2  7... a7a5 Abdusattorov deviates quite early. This move is not very popular, although it is very reasonable. The idea behind supporting the b4-bishop is to prepare the ...Nc6-e7 maneuver. 8. a2a3  8... b4c3  9. d2c3  9... c6e7  10. a4c2 