4/14/2026 – Javokhir Sindarov secured overall victory at the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus with a draw against Anish Giri in round thirteen. The 20-year-old clinched first place with a round to spare and will face Gukesh Dommaraju for the world title later this year. Wei Yi scored the only win of the day, while the remaining games were drawn, leaving the standings settled at the top. | Photo: ChessBase / Nils Rohde
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Sindarov to challenge Gukesh for world title later this year
Javokhir Sindarov secured overall victory at the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus with a composed draw against Anish Giri in round thirteen.
The 20-year-old from Tashkent needed only a draw to guarantee first place and qualification for a World Championship match against Gukesh Dommaraju later this year. He approached the decisive game in the same manner that had characterised his tournament throughout: well-prepared, confident, quick in his decisions and willing to rely on solid, practical play.
Out of the opening, Giri obtained a slightly more active position and appeared to have some chances to generate opportunities, but Sindarov neutralised the threats without difficulty. The game soon simplified into a rook endgame in which White had no realistic winning chances. Giri continued probing for a while, but Sindarov secured the draw without problems, thereby clinching tournament victory with a round to spare.
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Isai Scheinberg, one of the tournament's main sponsors, makes the opening move in the marquee matchup of the day | Photo: ChessBase / Nils Rohde
Sindarov's result in Cyprus stands out in the context of the modern Candidates format. After thirteen rounds, he has scored six wins and seven draws, already achieving the highest number of wins since the double round-robin format was introduced in 2013. If he draws his final-round game against Wei Yi, he will also record the highest overall score in this era of the Candidates. For now, he has already matched the 9½-point total achieved by Ian Nepomniachtchi in Madrid 2022.
The champion's performance has been balanced across both colours, with three wins each with white and black. Over the course of the tournament, he has defeated five of his seven opponents at least once, beating Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu twice, while only Matthias Bluebaum and Giri managed to hold him to two draws.
Sindarov's rating progress has also been significant. During the event, he has gained 30.5 rating points, climbing to fifth place in the live ratings list, only behind Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and compatriot Nodirbek Abdusattorov. At present, he holds a 43-point rating lead over world champion Gukesh, who has had a difficult start to the year in terms of results.
Interview with Javokhir Sindarov
Unlike some of his contemporaries, Sindarov's rise to the top level was gradual rather than rapid. After earning the grandmaster title and crossing the 2500 mark in 2018, he required more than three years to break the 2600 barrier, which he achieved in December 2021. A further two years passed before he surpassed 2700, briefly reaching 2701 in December 2023.
Sindarov's breakthrough year came in 2025: he began the year rated 2692 and finished it at a then career-high 2726. Two classical events proved decisive. At the FIDE Grand Swiss, he scored 6½/11, finishing 1½ points behind Giri, who won the event. The defining moment came at the FIDE World Cup, where Sindarov remained unbeaten in classical games and went on to win the title, defeating Wei Yi in the final to secure his place in the Candidates.
This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.
The rook endgame is drawn - Anish Giri and Javokhir Sindarov | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga
Fully focused | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga
Sharing a laugh with press officer Zachary Saine | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
Pragg escapes, Wei scores
Round 13 results
The remaining games of round thirteen produced three draws and one decisive result. Hikaru Nakamura was unable to generate pressure with the white pieces against Bluebaum. After 18 moves, a closed position arose in which White found it difficult to make progress. Nakamura continued to probe for a while, but unsuccessfully, and the game ended in a draw on move 42.
The result marked Bluebaum's twelfth draw in thirteen games - a remarkably consistent performance against elite opposition.
Matthias Bluebaum | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga
In the game between Fabiano Caruana and Praggnanandhaa, the US grandmaster once again obtained a promising position out of the opening. In a well-known line of the Nimzo-Indian Defence, Caruana introduced a new concept and soon reached a clearly advantageous position, one that appeared close to winning.
However, as has happened in several of his recent games, he was unable to maintain control, and the advantage slipped away. The game eventually ended in a draw, reflecting a tournament in which Caruana began strongly but has struggled to convert favourable positions in the later rounds.
Glorious sacrifices, unexpected tactics and checkmating attacks. The King's Gambit is one of the oldest and most romantic openings in the game of chess. This DVD contains all you need to know to tackle your opponent.
The only decisive result of the round came from Wei Yi, who defeated Andrey Esipenko in a game that combined theoretical interest with tactical complexity. Wei outplayed his opponent over the course of the middlegame, creating pressure through active piece play and eventually converting his advantage convincingly.
Wei Yi and Andrey Esipenko in the post-game press conference | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga
More videos produced by the ChessBase team in Cyprus
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions. The London System is one of the most popular openings at every level of chess but not all Londons are the same. In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: 5...cxd4 6.exd4 Qb6 sidelines
In this video course, experts including Dorian Rogozenco, Mihail Marin, Karsten Müller and Oliver Reeh, examine the games of Boris Spassky. Let them show you which openings Spassky chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were and much more.
Carlos Alberto ColodroCarlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.
4/13/2026 – Javokhir Sindarov maintained his two-point lead at the Candidates Tournament in Cyprus after a quick draw with Hikaru Nakamura in round twelve. Anish Giri missed a major chance to close the gap, drawing a long and complex game against Wei Yi. The remaining two games were also drawn, leaving Sindarov firmly in control with two rounds to play. | Photo: FIDE / Niki Riga
4/12/2026 – Four draws in round eleven of the Candidates Open chiefly benefitted Javokhir Sindarov, who thus continues to lead the field, two points ahead of Anish Giri. With only three rounds remaining, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Giri to catch the Uzbek grandmaster. There was drama on the board in Matthias Bluebaum's game against Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, but in the end the encounter concluded in a draw. | Photo: FIDE / Michal Walusza
The Elephant Gambit (1.e4.e5 2.Nf3 d5!?) has never really been given the attention it deserves. It is a very useful surprise weapon. Let us list the advantages of playing this particular opening: 1) Shock value 2) It is very aggressive. Black can take over the initiative early. 3) Many tricky lines 4) Unorthodox. Black is basically taking the game to the opponent as early as move two. Not many openings do that! It's a perfect opening for young players and club players to adopt. Let Andrew Martin select a repertoire for you on this 60 mins, which, if used with discretion, will rack up the points. I am sure that you will enjoy this unusual tour of the Elephant Gambit.
In this course, you’ll learn how to take the initiative against the London and prevent White from comfortably playing their usual system by playing 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 Nh5.
London System Powerbase 2026 is a database and contains in all 11 285 games from Mega 2026 and the Correspondence Database 2026, of which 282 are annotated.
The London System Powerbook 2026 is based on more than 410 000 games or game fragments from different opening moves and ECO codes; what they all have in common is that White plays d4 and Bf4 but does not play c4.
In this course, Grandmaster Elisabeth Pähtz presents the London System, a structured and ambitious approach based on the immediate Bf4, leading to rich and dynamic positions.
Opening videos: Open Spanish (Sipke Ernst) and Classical Sicilian (Nico Zwirs). Endgame Special by Igor Stohl: ‘Short or long side’ – where should the defending king be placed in rook endgames? ‘Lucky bag’ with 35 master analyses.
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
The Queen’s Gambit Declined Exchange Variation with 5.Bf4 has a great balance between positional play and sharp pawn pushes; and will be a surprise for your opponents while being easy to learn for you, as the key patterns are familiar.
€9.90
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