Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov won the Candidates tournament with one round remaining. He scored 9.5 points and earned a match against reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju.
Uzbekistan’s grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov won the 2026 Candidates tournament in Nicosia, Cyprus. By securing a draw in the 13th round, he won the right to compete for the world championship title.
In the 13th round of the tournament on 14 April, the 20-year-old Uzbek player faced experienced Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri. This time, Sindarov played with the black pieces.
The game proceeded without much serious fighting. After a series of exchanges, the position devolved into a technical rook ending, in which the players agreed to a draw after Giri’s protracted attempts to probe Sindarov’s weaknesses.
In the first round of the tournament, the confrontation between these chess players also ended in a draw.
Mathematical victory
Thanks to this draw, Javokhir Sindarov earned points that would guarantee him first place overall — 9.5 out of 13. With one round remaining, the gap between him and his closest rivals remained at 2 points. He also tied the points record set by Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi in 2022, who scored 9.5 points in 14 matches, winning the tournament with one round remaining.
This means that even if Sindarov loses in the final 14th round to Wei Yi and his competitor Anish Giri wins, no one will be able to take his lead.
Thus, he achieved an early victory in the most prestigious qualifying tournament on the chess calendar.
Path to crown
Javokhir Sindarov’s victory is a historic achievement for Uzbekistan. He became the first representative of the country in modern history to win the Candidates. Before him, only Rustam Kasimdzhanov held the FIDE world champion title in 2004, but the qualifying format back then was different (a knockout system).
Now the young grandmaster will face the reigning world champion, Dommaraj Gukesh, in a match for the world chess crown. The match is expected later this year; the date and venue to be announced by FIDE.
Sindarov won six matches, a record in the modern double-round robin format (introduced in 2013). Previously, grandmasters (including Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana) had achieved five wins in a single tournament. Sindarov surpassed this record by the 10th round.
At 19 years and 11 months, he became the youngest World Cup winner in 2025.
The 2026 Candidates tournament takes place from 29 March to 15 April, bringing together eight of the world’s strongest grandmasters. Participants compete in double round-robin matches (14 rounds). The winner will earn the right to play for the world chess crown against the reigning world champion, Dommaraj Gukesh. The tournament’s prize fund is €700,000.
Sindarov will receive €70,000 for first place, as well as €5,000 for each half point (he has already earned €95,000).
