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Javokhir Sindarov secured a shot at the world chess championship by winning the Candidates tournament in Cyprus, finishing with 9½ points. The 20-year-old grandmaster achieved this after drawing against Anish Giri, leaving Giri two points behind with one round left.
Javokhir Sindarov will challenge for Gukesh Dommarajuâs world chess championship this fall after clinching the Candidates tournament with a game to spare on Tuesday afternoon in Cyprus.
The 20-year-old Uzbek grandmaster closed out an emphatic victory in the the 14-game double round-robin with a tame 58-move draw playing with the black pieces against Dutch star Anish Giri, moving to 9½ points and leaving the world No 9 two adrift with one round remaining at the Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort.
âAfter he exchanged queens [20 Qxa6] ... I didnât have any pressure,â Sindarov said afterwards. âI felt very comfortable during the game.â
Giri, who remained in mathematical contention entering Tuesdayâs penultimate round, had missed a chance to narrow the gap after failing to convert a winning position against Chinaâs Wei Yi a day earlier.
Sindarovâs wire-to-wire triumph in the beach resort town of Peyia was built on a commanding, unbeaten run through the eight-man field: six wins and seven draws from 13 games, a level of control rarely seen on the cutthroat Candidates stage. He will close out his tournament with a dead rubber on Wednesday playing as white against Wei.
The tournament had been billed as a potential last stand for the established elite, but Americans Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura never mounted a sustained challenge, underlining the accelerating shift toward a younger generation at the top of the game.
Gukesh became the youngest world champion in history when he dethroned Chinaâs Ding Liren in Singapore two years ago, breaking the previous age record held by Garry Kasparov, who was 22 when he defeated Anatoly Karpov in 1985.
Their showdown had marked the first time in the 138-year history of world championship matchplay that two men from Asia competed for the sportâs most prestigious title. Now it will happen for a second world title match in a row. Both players will be under 21 when they meet, likely in November, with Gukesh roughly six months younger than Sindarov.
Ding had claimed the crown by defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi after Magnus Carlsen, the five-time champion who has been ranked No 1 for nearly 15 straight years, opted out of the title cycle, citing a lack of motivation to go through the months-long slog of preparation that world championship matches demand. While the rise of Sindarov and his contemporaries is likely to renew speculation over a comeback, Carlsen has repeatedly said he has no intention of returning.
âHeâs the youngest champion in history and of course one of the best players in the world,â Sindarov said of Gukesh. âHe has a lot of strong skills and it will be a very exciting match. He has very good team. What can I say, I just wish him good luck.â
The win marks the latest high in a career-best year for Sindarov, who has climbed to a career-best No 11 in the world rankings after following a breakthrough victory at last yearâs Fide World Cup with a runner-up finish at the Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee. By contrast, Gukeshâs results have floundered, including a joint-last showing in March at the Prague International Chess Festival where he won only one of nine games.
âMy performance in the last few events has been quite disappointing, not just for me, but for all of you who support me,â Gukesh wrote on Instagram last month. âIn order to find my best form my team and I have decided that I should compete with slightly less intensity over the next few months.â
Sindarov brings home the winnerâs share of âŹ70,000 ($82,582) from the âŹ700,000 prize fund, along with an additional âŹ5,000 for each half-point scored. Asked whether it had sunk in that he will be playing for the biggest title in world chess, Sindarov was to the point.
âIf you asked me this question a year ago, I would have never believed this,â he said. âBut in the last year Iâve really improved my chess. Iâm very happy with my chess skills. I will try to play better and better.â
The date and host city for the best-of-14-games world championship match have yet to be confirmed.
Javokhir Sindarov is a 20-year-old Uzbek grandmaster who will challenge Gukesh Dommaraju for the world chess championship.
Sindarov won the Candidates tournament by finishing with 9½ points, achieving six wins and seven draws in 13 games.
Sindarov drew his match against Anish Giri, which allowed him to clinch the Candidates tournament with one game remaining.
Sindarov had an unbeaten run with six wins and seven draws from 13 games, showcasing a commanding level of control throughout the tournament.
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