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20-year-old Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov has won the Candidates Tournament, held at the Cap St Georges Hotel resort in Cyprus, with one round remaining. At the end of 2026, the talented chess player from Uzbekistan will face his Indian peer, Gukesh Dommaraju, in a match for the world championship title. It will be the ‘youngest’ match for the world chess crown. Sindarov is the favourite.
In fact, the outcome of the men’s tournament was a foregone conclusion after the first round, during which Sindarov secured five victories over members of the chess elite. Grandmaster Rafael Leitão described Sindarov’s play as outstanding, and his level of skill as having few parallels in the history of chess. In the second round, the favourite was required not to take unnecessary risks and to hold his ground, which he certainly managed to do.
At a press conference following the draw with Anish Giri in the 13th round, which secured Sindarov’s victory in the tournament, Javokhir revealed that the past week had been one of the toughest of his life. In particular, the tournament leader had been struggling to sleep. Fortunately, the grandmaster hadn’t lost his sense of humour. He revealed that he used to play a lot of Counter-Strike, whilst his rivals were working on their chess for 10 hours a day.
‘I am very happy. I hope my country is happy too. I would like to thank everyone who supported me. Thank you to my sponsors and the government of Uzbekistan. Thank you to my team [coach Roman Vidonyak and second Mukhiddin Madaminov]. Our next task is to achieve the best possible result in the world championship match,” Sindarov said in an interview with the FIDE YouTube channel’.
‘If you’d asked me this question [about the world chess title match] a year ago, I wouldn’t have believed it for a moment. But over the past year I’ve improved my chess and am very pleased with my skills. I’ll try to play better and better. I’m very happy, though not too surprised by the victory, because I’ve always believed in myself. But, of course, it’s impossible to win such a tournament without a bit of luck’, the winner concluded.
Meanwhile, in the women’s tournament, according to Grandmaster Peter Svidler, it is complete chaos. Ahead of the final round, which takes place on 15 April, six of the eight participants are in contention for first place. Bibisara Assaubayeva and Vaishali Rameshbabu have the best chances. In the event of a tie between two or more players, a tie-break (a micro-match with reduced time controls) will take place on 16 April.
Javokhir has promised Bibisara help with her preparation for the decisive round. This comes as no surprise - they share the same coach. The three-time world blitz champion posted a joint photo with the tournament winner, captioned ‘My champion’.
‘I’m very proud of him. I’ve known him for the last five years. We’ve grown up watching each other’s achievements. I think he’s one of the kindest people in the world, and I’m so happy he won. He absolutely deserves it’, said Assaubayeva.
Interesting facts
- The first move in the Giri–Sindarov game was made by Isai Scheinberg, one of the tournament’s two main sponsors and founder of the online platform PokerStars.
- Sindarov will receive €70,000 for first place, plus €5000 for every half-point scored (i.e. at least an additional €95,000).
- Sindarov has not lost in 50 consecutive games. His last defeat came in September 2025 at the FIDE Grand Swiss in Samarkand.
Men’s and Women’s Candidates Tournaments
Cap St Georges Hotel near Paphos
28 March to 16 April
- The competition, with a prize fund of one million euros, is organised with the financial support of Freedom Holding and the Sheinberg family.
- The fan zone hosts masterclasses, lectures, simultaneous exhibitions and discussions featuring world chess stars.
- Chess enthusiasts have the opportunity to interact with tournament participants during Q&A sessions, autograph sessions and photo opportunities.
- Grandmasters Peter Svidler and Jan Gustafsson are providing live commentary on the games on the FIDE YouTube channel.
