Sindarov the challenger

For the past 18 days or so, my eyes have been glued to either the television or the computer monitor, following each round of the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 in Cyprus whenever I can. In a way, it was a welcome distraction: a chance to detach, however briefly, from the madness elsewhere in the world, not least the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

On paper, the tournament looked like a very balanced field. Hikaru Nakamura, Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri were all seasoned campaigners, mixed in with the younger lot like Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Javokhir Sindarov and Andrey Esipenko. I thought it might go right down to the wire, but it didn’t quite happen that way. 

I must admit that Sindarov had first come to my attention four years ago when the Uzbekistan team won the Chess Olympiad 2022 in Chennai. He was still very young then, only 16 years old, but already one could see something about him. I followed his progress more closely after that, and even more so after he won the Chess World Cup 2025 in Goa last year. That victory felt like a turning point. He was no longer just a rising prodigy, but someone who had to be taken seriously at the very top level. In many ways, what we saw in Cyprus felt like a continuation of that.

From the very beginning, a more mature Sindarov, now 20, came out looking like a man in a hurry. No messing about, no tentative starts. He just went straight into his games with real intent. Sharp openings, confident decisions and a willingness to take on complications that the others were a little more cautious about.  After the first few rounds, especially with wins coming early, I already had the feeling that this might be his tournament to lose.

What impressed me was not just that he was winning, but who he was winning against. When he beat Nakamura, that really caught my attention. That was not a cheap point. It was a proper fight, and when Nakamura slipped up, Sindarov was right there to punish him. He followed that up with more strong results, and by then the rest of the field were already playing catch-up.

Photo: Chessbase

Against players like Giri and Caruana, he didn’t overpress. He was quite happy to take a solid result and move on. To me, that showed a certain maturity. In these events, it’s not just about brilliance but also about knowing when to hold back. In this regard, his support team had done an exemplary job in guiding him. He also handled the rest of the field well by picking up wins where it mattered and holding steady in the return games. There were no slip-ups and no unnecessary drama. Just a steady accumulation of points.

By the time we got into the later rounds, the situation was quite clear. He had a lead and more importantly, he looked comfortable with it. There was no sign of nerves, no sense that he was about to collapse under pressure. If anything, it was the others who seemed to be forcing matters a little too much. In the end, he had effectively clinched the tournament with a round to spare. That, more or less, told the whole story. When a Candidates is decided before the last round, it usually means one player has been in control for quite some time. The final round was almost beside the point.

What I liked about his play was the balance. He was aggressive when the position allowed it, but not reckless. He defended well when he had to. And most importantly, he seemed completely unfazed by the occasion. For a tournament of this level, that counted for a lot.

Rd 1: Sindarov - Andrey Esipenko 1-0 
Rd 2: Sindarov - Matthias Bluebaum 1/2 
Rd 3: Praggnananda Rameshbabu - Sindarov 0-1 
Rd 4: Sindarov - Fabiano Caruana 1-0 
Rd 5: Hikaru Nakamura - Sindarov 0-1 
Rd 6: Wei Yi - Sindarov 0-1 
Rd 7: Sindarov - Anish Giri 1/2 
Rd 8: Andrey Esipenko - Sindarov 1/2 
Rd 9: Matthias Bluebaum - Sindarov 1/2 
Rd 10: Sindarov - Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 1-0 
Rd 11: Fabiano Caruana - Sindarov 1/2 
Rd 12: Sindarov - Hikaru Nakamura 1/2 
Rd 13: Anish Giri - Sindarov 1/2 
Rd 14: Sindarov - Wei Yi 1/2

So now there is a new challenger in Sindarov, and he will be up against the defending world champion, Dommaraju Gukesh, for the world title later this year. That should be quite a match. There’s Sindarov who seems quite at home in sharp, tactical positions, and then there’s Gukesh who strikes me as a more controlled, positional player. Two different styles by two young players, and both with a point to prove. I don’t know how the match will turn out as matches are quite different from tournaments. But watching this Candidates, I couldn’t help feel that we are seeing a bit of a shift. The older guard is still there, still very strong, but the younger players are no longer just knocking on the door. They are already inside. And this time, one of them has walked away with the prize.