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Javokhir Sindarov finished with a record total in the world championship Candidates in Pegeia, western Cyprus, as the 20-year-old from Uzbekistan won the competition with a record 10/14 total, 1.5 points clear of his nearest rival, Anish Giri. The women’s Candidates was won by India’s 24-year-old Vaishali Rameshbabu, half a point ahead of Kazakhstan’s Bibisara Assaubayeva, who is also Sindarov’s girlfriend.
Sindarov dominated the field with a controlled display reminiscent of the old Soviet master Mikhail Botvinnik. His pre-game preparation was exceptional, several times accurately predicting what would appear on the board right into the endgame. On the rare occasions when he was under pressure, as in his second game against the world No 3 and US champion, Fabiano Caruana, his defensive technique was precise and assured.
Candidates final scores after 14 rounds: Sindarov 10, Giri (Netherlands) 8.5, Caruana 7.5, Wei Yi (China) 7, Hikaru Nakamura (US) 6.5, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (India) and Matthias Blübaum (Germany) 6, Andrey Esipenko (Fide/Russia) 4.5.
Sindarov’s total of six wins and eight draws is the highest since the current Candidates format was introduced in 2013. Now comes the world championship match, to be played over the best of 14 games. Sindarov and the title holder, Gukesh Dommaraju, will both be 20 when it occurs in the second half of 2026 at a date and venue yet to be announced. Gukesh’s reign as world champion has been disappointing, including a drop to 15th place in the latest ratings.
Sindarov will be at least a 60% favourite, although the Indian can expect maximum support from his homeland’s grandmasters led by the former champion Vishy Anand and is sure to make a determined fight of his title defence.
The intriguing question for the future is whether Magnus Carlsen, the world No 1, could be persuaded to compete again in classical chess if the possibility arises of a championship match with Sindarov. When Carlsen abdicated the classical crown in 2023, he said that he would only defend against Alireza Firouzja, then the leading young player. However, the Iranian-Frenchman has since disappointed with too much blitz and has diverted his career into fashion design, while Sindarov has zoomed to the top.
The Uzbek’s ascent is particularly remarkable in that, after becoming a grandmaster at 12 years 10 months, he became addicted for several years to the video game Counter-Strike and played it for hours a day in his teenage years. He only prioritised chess again after he defeated Firouzja at the 2021 World Cup and it became clear that Uzbekistan had serious chances for the gold medals at the 2022 Olympiad, where they triumphed ahead of the Indian and US favourites.
Chess currently could expect to raise up to $10m for such a rare event as a Carlsen v Sindarov world title match, which would also provide Carlsen with an opportunity to strengthen his claim to be the all-time No 1 ahead of Garry Kasparov. However, Carlsen would be very reluctant. His main reason for abdicating his crown was his dislike of the necessary months of work in computer preparation, which is precisely the area where Sindarov is strongest.
Carlsen may also view the coming 2027 introduction of the Fide World Total Championship Tour, combining fast classical, rapid and blitz events, as sufficient for his continued activity.
The Women’s Candidates, also played in Pegeia, featured an extraordinary performance by Vaishali. The sister of GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu was the lowest-ranked player in the competition and was on a minus score with zero wins after five rounds. After 11 rounds, she had jumped to clear leader, a point ahead of the field, and despite a 12th-round defeat by China’s top seed, Zhu Jiner, she continued at the front, winning a tense final-round game against Kateryna Lagno in the sharp Sicilian Dragon in which Vaishali, with little clock time, still found the winning sequence 39 Rd8+! and 40 c4!
Final Women’s Candidates scores after 14 rounds were Vaishali 8.5, Assaubayeva 8, Aleksandra Goryachkina (Fide/Russia) and Zhu 7.5, Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine) 7, Lagno (Fide/Russia) 6.5, Divya Deshmukh (India) and Tan Zhongyi (China) 5.5.
Ju Wenjun, the five-time reigning women’s world champion, will be a clear favourite to defend her title successfully against Vaishali. Ju has a peak rating above 2600 and is currently rated 2559 against Vaishali’s 2470.
A rare English success in a strong international open came at Menorca last week, when GM Dan Fernandez tied for fifth prize with an unbeaten 7/9 and a 2601 performance rating. The 31-year-old is aiming for a place in the England team for the coming Olympiad in Uzbekistan, and boosted his chances with his strong result, which included a win against the top-seeded, Volodar Murzin, the 2024 World Rapid champion.
Another interesting pairing in Menorca was the first meeting between Argentina’s Faustino Oro and England’s Supratit Banerjee, two of the best 12-year-olds in the world. Menorca proved a disappointment for both of them, as Oro again failed to achieve his final GM norm following his last-round defeat at Aeroflot Moscow, while Banerjee lost four games for a 50% total. Their individual game was combative before Oro emerged on top.
Both were upstaged by India’s 10-year-old talent Aarit Kapil, who scored 5/9 despite meeting three GMs and four IMs and became only the fifth player in history to achieve an IM norm before his 11th birthday.
After six of the nine rounds, Kapil was still unbeaten, including a draw with Oro, and on course for a historic GM norm at age 10, but after missing a draw in round seven he was beaten in a marathon 124 moves and lost his next game as well before halving for the IM norm in the final round. As a nine-year-old Kapil drew with Carlsen in chess.com’s Titled Tuesday, a game in which the pre-teen Indian missed an endgame win.
The English Chess Federation will host a special 24-hour chess marathon on chess.com on Saturday, starting at 5pm, in memory of two of England’s leading chess coaches, GM Jonathan Hawkins and IM Adam Hunt, who both died from cancer. Many titled players and young talents will take part, and all are welcome to play or watch. Proceeds will go to Macmillan Cancer Support.
4020: 1…Bxd4! 2 cxd4 Nf4! 3 Qb3 Qxf1+! 4 Kxf1 Rc1+ 5 Qd1 Rxd1 mate.
