The outcome was decided in the penultimate round. A draw against his closest rival, Anish Giri of the Netherlands, was enough for Javokhir Sindarov to win the World Chess Candidates Tournament in Cyprus.
“Every round was very, very tough, and the past week was the hardest of my life,” the new chess superstar said after his breakthrough victory. “I slept really badly and I’m glad it’s over.”
Winning the Candidates Tournament means Sindarov, 20, will now face reigning world champion Dommaraju Gukesh of India for the World Chess Championship title in late 2026. With Gukesh just 19, it will be a duel between two young stars from the emerging chess nations of India and Uzbekistan.
Sindarov, who became a grandmaster at 12 and had been in impressive form for months, dominated the Candidates from the start. The first decisive moment came in the fourth of 14 rounds, when he outplayed Fabiano Caruana, the top US favorite and 2018 World Chess vice-champion. With that win he took the lead and never relinquished it. In the first six games he scored a sensational five wins — a feat no player had ever achieved in a high-level Candidates tournament.
Sindarov exemplifies a trend of younger players from outside traditional European chess powers reaching the top. Many of these prodigies are from Asia, a dominance also visible in the women’s competition in Cyprus: India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu won the Women’s Candidates by beating Russia’s Kateryna Lagno in the final round and earned the right to challenge world champion Ju Wenjun of China.
Uzbekistan is now establishing itself alongside China and India as a chess powerhouse. “The young talents in Uzbekistan are really, really strong,” Rustam Kasimjanov, a former elite Uzbek player, told DW. Kasimjanov — who has lived near Bonn for many years — is widely seen as a catalyst for the country’s chess boom and has trained many of its young stars. He noted that the Uzbek state has supported chess with substantial funding for several years.
Sindarov’s head coach, Roman Vidonyak, born in Ukraine but long based in Munich, has coached him for about a year. “We still have big plans,” Vidonyak told Chessbase after Sindarov’s victory: the goal is the world championship title and to establish Sindarov as the leading player of his generation. The main obstacle is Gukesh, though Gukesh’s form since winning the world title in late 2024 has dipped — he currently ranks 15th in the world — which bolsters Sindarov’s chances. Magnus Carlsen is still widely regarded as the best player but no longer competes in world championship matches, preferring other formats.
Germany had one bright spot in Cyprus: Matthias Blübaum. The “lone wolf from Lemgo,” as New in Chess labeled him, was a surprise qualifier and the first German to play in the Candidates in over 35 years. As an underdog he played conservatively, steering many games to draws; even Sindarov managed only two draws against him. Blübaum lost just twice.
“Incredible how confidently Matthias Blübaum plays against the world’s best,” said Ingrid Lauterbach, president of the German Chess Federation. With Blübaum and top-10 player Vincent Keymer, Germany is currently the only European nation approaching the levels of India and Uzbekistan. Lauterbach added that the contrast is stark: Uzbekistan and India show what happens when significant investment is poured into chess, something Germany still lacks.
Blübaum’s strong showing has not yet attracted the major sponsor hoped for by a cash-strapped German chess scene. The federation’s finances were so tight that Blübaum could only bring his coaches to Cyprus after a crowdfunding campaign.
This article was originally published in German.