Garry Kasparov: If Javokhir Sindarov beats Gukesh, there’s a chance Magnus Carlsen might come back to World Championship cycle | Chess News
3 min readApr 17, 2026 12:48 AM IST Former world champion Garry Kasparov has said that on current form Javokhir Sindarov looks “more impressive” than India’s D Gukesh ahead of their upcoming World Chess Championship match at the end of the year. Kasparov also said that should Sindarov manage to defeat Gukesh at the world championship, Magnus Carlsen might be tempted to make a return. Sindarov won the Candidates tournament in Cyprus without losing a single game and had taken a healthy lead by the time half the tournament had ended. “The way he won the Candidates, it was very impressive. I must say, it’s hard to impress me. But the way Sindarov played — his timing, the quality of his moves, his ability to withstand pressure and increase the pressure on his opponents — was exceptional,” Kasparov said in an interview with St Louis Chess Club’s YouTube handle. “Compared to Gukesh, if you look at the games, Sindarov looks like the clear favorite. But this match is a special format. Gukesh is very mentally …



