Grandmaster Javahir Sindorov from Uzbekistan became the winner of the Candidates tournament ahead of schedule. By the end of the 13th round, he accumulated 9.5 points and won the right to challenge for the chess crown with the current world champion Gukesh Dommaraju.
Photo: Michal Walusza / FIDE
A clear advantage
Uzbekistani chess player Javahir Sindorov won the 2026 Candidates tournament in Cyprus ahead of schedule.
The 20-year-old chess player from Uzbekistan did not fall below the first place during the tournament, which was attended by eight of the world’s strongest chess players. He became the clear favorite of the tournament after first-round victories over Russia’s Andrey Yesipenko, India’s Rameshbabu Pragnanadha, America’s Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, and China’s Wei I.
Notably, he gained a huge time advantage in most games by anticipating his opponents’ moves, leaving them helpless in the endgame.
In the second round, he once again defeated his arch-rival Rameshbabu, and after that his title was in no doubt.
After surpassing his opponents in the tournament table, the Uzbek chess player refrained from taking risks, focused on the result and kept the distance through the necessary draws.
On the eve of the 13th round, there was an opportunity to formalize the championship ahead of time. He had by this time scored 9 points from 12 chances and was two points ahead of second placed Anish Giri. Even a draw was enough for the championship.
Despite the fact that he was playing in black pieces, Sindorov defended himself reliably in a game that lasted for almost four hours. After most exchanges, the game went into a technically challenging endgame and in the end Giri had no choice but to settle for a draw.
Sindorov won the championship ahead of schedule after a draw equal to the victory. Now no one can catch up to him regardless of the results of the last round.
Records
The win over Rameshbabu in the 10th round was Sindorov’s 6th in the tournament, a record result for the modern format of the two-round tournament.
Until then, no chess player in the history of the tournament had achieved 6 victories.
Previously, other famous Grandmasters such as Magnus Carlsen, Jan Nepomnyashi and Fabiano Caruana had won a maximum of 5 games in a single tournament. Sindorov managed to improve this result by the 10th round.
Also, Sindorov, who recorded 6 wins and 7 draws during 13 rounds, has collected 9.5 points so far. By doing so, he repeated the points record of Russian Yan Nepomnyashi, who collected 9.5 points from 14 chances in 2022.
But the tournament is not over for Sindorov. Today, he will set an all-time tournament record with 10 points from 14 chances, even though he drew with China’s Wei I.
In addition, due to the results of the tournament, Sindorov rose from 11th to fifth place in the world ranking, and was placed next to another chess player from Uzbekistan, Nodirbek Abdusattarov. Now, two of the five strongest chess players in the world represent Uzbekistan.
A new page in the chess of Uzbekistan
It can be said that Javahir Sindorov opened a new page in the history of Uzbekistan chess. In 2025, at the age of 19, the chess player who became the youngest winner of the World Cup has now become the first Uzbek to win the Candidates Tournament.
Before that, only Rustam Kasimjanov had the title of world champion in the FIDE version in 2004, but the qualifying format was different then.
The tournament in Cyprus was seen as the last chance for the old guard to prove themselves. However, American Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura could not seriously resist. This proved once again that the rule of the young generation has begun in the world chess elite.
Now the young grandmaster from Uzbekistan has won the right to compete with the current world champion, his peer Dommaraju Gukesh, in the fight for the World crown. This match is scheduled to take place at the end of 2026. The date and place of the championship match will be announced by FIDE at a later date.
Prize money
The prize fund of the Candidates tournament, which started on March 29, is 700,000 euros.
Sindorov is guaranteed a prize money of 70,000 euros for the first place. Also, 5000 euros will be given to all chess players for every half point won. Sindorov earned another 95,000 euros through his accumulated points.
That is, he managed to cash at least 165,000 euros right now. Given that the tournament is not over yet, this number is subject to change.
As mentioned above, by winning this round, Jawahir Sindorov had the opportunity to compete against Dommaraju Gukesh for the World crown at the end of 2026. Regardless of the outcome of this match, the players will have a guaranteed huge prize money. In particular, the current champion Dommaraju Gukesh received 1 million 350 thousand dollars for the championship last time. Dean Liren, who lost to him, was awarded 1 million 150 thousand dollars.
This means that Javahir Sindorov has already crossed the million mark in dollars.
It should be noted that Jawahir and Gukesh have met three times in the classic party. Sindorov won two of them, and a draw was recorded in one. Judging by Gukesh’s current sports form, the chances of another victory are high for the Uzbek chess player.
