Sindarov: second youngest GM ever

by Macauley Peterson
10/18/2018 – The last half year went well for the young Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov: In June he got his first GM norm in Voronezh, Russia. In September, at the World Junior Championships in Turkey, he scored a second and elevated his Elo rating to 2500. Now, less than a month later, Sindarov has reportedly earned his third and final GM norm, making him the second youngest GM ever, at the age of 12 years, 10 months and 8 days. | Photo: Sagar Shah
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Matching Praggnanandhaa's achievement

ChessBase readers will probably be familiar with the name Praggnanandhaa, who became the second youngest Grandmaster in history in June of this year. The reason we followed him so closely is that for a long time it looked like he had a real shot at breaking Sergey Karjakin's record atop our list of the youngest GMs ever. He was the youngest International Master in history, at ten years and nine months. He hit 2500 Elo just a few days after his twelfth birthday, with seven months in which to attain three GM norms. Ultimately he didn't break the record, of course.

By contrast, Javokhir Sindarov (born December 8, 2005) qualified for the IM title in June, 2017 (when he was nine months older than 'Pragg' had been), and as of just a month ago, he had not yet been over 2500 — so he was never a threat to Karjakin's record.

But that all changed in a hurry! Sindarov snagged his second GM norm at the World Junior Championship where Sagar Shah profiled him extensively. He hit 2500 exactly on the October FIDE ratings list. Then at the recent "First Saturday" tournament in Budapest, which finished on Tuesday, he scored his third GM norm (and tied for first place with 7/9). 

Sindarov in Budapest

Dr. Kamil Sindarov, FM Manush Shah, IM Javokhir Sindarov, IO Laszlo Nagy | Photo: Laszlo Nagy

After 8 of 9 rounds, Sindarov was at the top of the standings with 6 of 8, but that was not the most important factor, since he needed a win in the last round to qualify for a GM-norm. He succeeded with a sweeping attack:

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 a6 3.g3 b5 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.Nge2 e6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 b4 8.Na4 Nf6 9.0-0 Bxe4 10.Bxe4 Nxe4 11.c4 bxc3 12.Re1 cxb2 13.Bxb2 Nf6 14.Rc1 A novelty. White now threatens 15.Nb6! since Black cannot take without allowing mate 15...Qxb6 16.Rc8+ Ke7 17.Nf5#. Be7 15.Qf3 Ra7 After the natural looking 15...d5 White gets a strong attack with 16.Nf5 E.g. exf5 Or 16...Nbd7 17.Nxg7+ Kf8 18.Nxe6+ fxe6 19.Rxe6 Kf7 20.Rce1 Re8 21.g4 h6 22.h4 and Black can no longer parry the many white threats. 17.Rxe7+! Kxe7 18.Ba3+ Ke8 19.Qxf5 and White may have a rook less but his attack is devastating. And after 15...Nd5 then 16.Nf5 is strong, e.g. Nc6 17.Nxg7+ Kf8 18.Nxe6+ dxe6 19.Bxh8 and White is winning. 16.Nf5! exf5 17.Rxe7+! Kxe7 18.Qa3+ A zwischenzug, which weakens the black position. d6 19.Qe3+ White wins the rook back with a double-attack. Black still has two extra pawns but the exposed position of his king and lack of development gives White more than enough compensation. Engines already consider the position winning for White. Kf8 20.Qxa7 Nbd7 21.Bxf6! gxf6 22.Rc7 Ne5 23.f4 Now White wins material. The weakening of the white king proves harmless. Kg7 24.fxe5 dxe5 25.Rxf7+ Kg6 26.Rg7+ Kh6 27.Qf7 Qd1+ 28.Kg2 Qe2+ 29.Kh3 Qf1+ 30.Kh4 Black gave up. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Sindarov,J2500Tran,M23411–02018First Saturday GM Oct 20189.2

Sindarov's title is expected to be confirmed at the next FIDE Presidential Board meeting, however the FIDE website has already published a news item, written by IO Nagy, who tells ChessBase "I am sure [about] the other 2 GM-norms [as well]."

Budapest "First Saturday" October - Final standings

Rg. Titel Name Land ELO 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pkt.
1 IM Javokhir Sindarov
 
 2500   0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 7.0 / 9
2 IM Emil Mirzoev
 
 2439 1   0 ½ 1 ½ 1 1 1 1 7.0 / 9
3   Ismayil Bahram Shahaliyev
 
 2376 ½ 1   ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 6.0 / 9
4 GM Vojtech Plat
 
 2539 0 ½ ½   1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 5.5 / 9
5 FM Shah Manush
 
 2302 ½ 0 ½ 0   1 ½ ½ ½ 1 4.5 / 9
6 IM Shinya Kojima
 
 2408 0 ½ ½ 0 0   ½ ½ 1 1 4.0 / 9
7   Van Thanh Nguyen
 
 2350 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½   ½ ½ ½ 3.5 / 9
8 GM Attila Czebe
 
 2426 0 0 0 ½ ½ ½ ½   ½ ½ 3.0 / 9
9 IM Minh Thang Tran
 
 2341 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½   1 2.5 / 9
10 GM Zlatko Ilincic
 
 2411 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 ½ ½ 0   2.0 / 9

All games

 
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1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.b3 Bg4 5.Bb2 e6 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.0-0 Bd6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Nd4 Bxe2 10.Qxe2 0-0 11.Nf5 Be5 12.d3 Re8 13.Bxe5 Nxe5 14.Nd2 Qd7 15.Ng3 c5 16.Nf3 Nc6 17.Qb2 d4 18.exd4 Nxd4 19.Nxd4 cxd4 20.Rfe1 h5 21.Ne4 Nxe4 22.dxe4 Red8 23.Rad1 d3 24.Rd2 Rac8 25.Qb1 Qd4 26.Qd1 f6 27.h4 Rc3 28.Re3 b5 29.g3 a5 30.Kg2 a4 31.bxa4 bxa4 32.Qf3 Qc4 33.e5 Qe6 34.Qe4 a3 35.Qa4 Kf7 36.Qa5 Qc6+ 37.Rf3 Rd5 38.Qa7+ Rd7 39.Qe3 Qd5 40.Qf4 Kg8 41.Qe3 Rd8 42.Qf4 Re8 43.Qb4 Rec8 44.Qd6 Rd8 45.Qxd5+ Rxd5 46.Re3 Kf8 47.Kf3 Rc2 48.Rdxd3 Rxd3 49.Rxd3 Rxa2 50.Rd7 Rb2 51.Ra7 a2 52.Ke3 Ke8 53.f3 Kf8 54.Kf4 Re2 55.g4 hxg4 56.fxg4 Kg8 57.Kf3 Rxe5 ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Czebe,A2426Kojima,S2408½–½2018A12First Saturday GM Oct 20181.1
Ilincic,Z2411Shahaliyev,I2376½–½2018E04First Saturday GM Oct 20181.2
Manush,S2302Plat,V25390–12018D00First Saturday GM Oct 20181.3
Tran,M2341Nguyen,V2350½–½2018B27First Saturday GM Oct 20181.4
Mirzoev,E2439Sindarov,J25001–02018A33First Saturday GM Oct 20181.5
Kojima,S2408Sindarov,J25000–12018A34First Saturday GM Oct 20182.1
Nguyen,V2350Mirzoev,E24390–12018A47First Saturday GM Oct 20182.2
Plat,V2539Tran,M23411–02018B42First Saturday GM Oct 20182.3
Shahaliyev,I2376Manush,S2302½–½2018B18First Saturday GM Oct 20182.4
Czebe,A2426Ilincic,Z2411½–½2018B13First Saturday GM Oct 20182.5
Ilincic,Z2411Kojima,S24080–12018D02First Saturday GM Oct 20183.1
Manush,S2302Czebe,A2426½–½2018B14First Saturday GM Oct 20183.2
Tran,M2341Shahaliyev,I23760–12018A61First Saturday GM Oct 20183.3
Mirzoev,E2439Plat,V2539½–½2018C92First Saturday GM Oct 20183.4
Sindarov,J2500Nguyen,V23501–02018C03First Saturday GM Oct 20183.5
Kojima,S2408Nguyen,V2350½–½2018D27First Saturday GM Oct 20184.1
Plat,V2539Sindarov,J25000–12018C84First Saturday GM Oct 20184.2
Shahaliyev,I2376Mirzoev,E24391–02018B40First Saturday GM Oct 20184.3
Czebe,A2426Tran,M2341½–½2018A11First Saturday GM Oct 20184.4
Ilincic,Z2411Manush,S23020–12018D02First Saturday GM Oct 20184.5
Manush,S2302Kojima,S24081–02018D12First Saturday GM Oct 20185.1
Tran,M2341Ilincic,Z24111–02018B53First Saturday GM Oct 20185.2
Mirzoev,E2439Czebe,A24261–02018A21First Saturday GM Oct 20185.3
Sindarov,J2500Shahaliyev,I2376½–½2018A30First Saturday GM Oct 20185.4
Nguyen,V2350Plat,V2539½–½2018B31First Saturday GM Oct 20185.5
Kojima,S2408Plat,V25390–12018D76First Saturday GM Oct 20186.1
Shahaliyev,I2376Nguyen,V2350½–½2018B40First Saturday GM Oct 20186.2
Czebe,A2426Sindarov,J25000–12018C45First Saturday GM Oct 20186.3
Ilincic,Z2411Mirzoev,E24390–12018A60First Saturday GM Oct 20186.4
Manush,S2302Tran,M2341½–½2018A48First Saturday GM Oct 20186.5
Tran,M2341Kojima,S24080–12018D10First Saturday GM Oct 20187.1
Mirzoev,E2439Manush,S23021–02018A11First Saturday GM Oct 20187.2
Sindarov,J2500Ilincic,Z24111–02018A07First Saturday GM Oct 20187.3
Nguyen,V2350Czebe,A2426½–½2018C41First Saturday GM Oct 20187.4
Plat,V2539Shahaliyev,I2376½–½2018C07First Saturday GM Oct 20187.5
Kojima,S2408Shahaliyev,I2376½–½2018D38First Saturday GM Oct 20188.1
Czebe,A2426Plat,V2539½–½2018C67First Saturday GM Oct 20188.2
Ilincic,Z2411Nguyen,V2350½–½2018D14First Saturday GM Oct 20188.3
Manush,S2302Sindarov,J2500½–½2018D00First Saturday GM Oct 20188.4
Tran,M2341Mirzoev,E24390–12018A53First Saturday GM Oct 20188.5
Mirzoev,E2439Kojima,S2408½–½2018C67First Saturday GM Oct 20189.1
Sindarov,J2500Tran,M23411–02018B43First Saturday GM Oct 20189.2
Nguyen,V2350Manush,S2302½–½2018B13First Saturday GM Oct 20189.3
Plat,V2539Ilincic,Z2411½–½2018C92First Saturday GM Oct 20189.4
Shahaliyev,I2376Czebe,A24261–02018C41First Saturday GM Oct 20189.5

Johannes Fischer contributed reporting.

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Macauley served as the Editor in Chief of ChessBase News from July 2017 to March 2020. He is the producer of The Full English Breakfast chess podcast, and was an Associate Producer of the 2016 feature documentary, Magnus.

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