All posts tagged: FIDE Candidates Cyprus

Garry Kasparov: If Javokhir Sindarov beats Gukesh, there’s a chance Magnus Carlsen might come back to World Championship cycle | Chess News

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 …

Candidates: Javokhir Sindarov’s red-hot form continues with fourth win, Pragg and Co now have to shed safety-first approach | Chess News

Candidates: Javokhir Sindarov’s red-hot form continues with fourth win, Pragg and Co now have to shed safety-first approach | Chess News

5 min readNew DelhiApr 4, 2026 12:08 AM IST In the history of the Candidates Tournament in its current format, no player had ever scored 3.5 points from the first four rounds. Uzbek sensation Javokhir Sindarov not only matched that mark but has gone one step ahead, surging to 4.5 points in five rounds while casually tearing down Hikaru Nakamura’s defences as if for fun in Cyprus on Friday. The 20-year-old, the youngest in the 8-player lineup, is toying with the world’s elite in what is widely considered the most brutal gauntlet in chess, the final step before a shot at the World Championship title. If his win against Fabiano Caruana in the previous round was a lesson in calculated domination, his game against Nakamura was an outright dismantling. Playing at the picturesque Cap St Georges Hotel and Resort in Pegeia, perched above the deep blue Mediterranean, Sindarov made the extraordinary look routine to secure his fourth win. The colours don’t matter to Sindarov anymore. With all the stars aligning, he caught Nakamura in his …

Catch him if you can: Javokhir Sindarov lays down the marker at Candidates, with resounding win against Fabiano Caruana; Pragg plays out safe draw | Cricket News

Catch him if you can: Javokhir Sindarov lays down the marker at Candidates, with resounding win against Fabiano Caruana; Pragg plays out safe draw | Cricket News

Javokhir Sindarov defies the very idea of a conventional chess player. He lacks the stoic composure of a Fabiano Caruana, doesn’t possess the sharp wit of a Hikaru Nakamura, and is far from the introverted nature of a Wei Yi. He exists as a complete anomaly. He’s the kind of player who will happily lean into someone else’s analysis, buzzing with energy, always smiling but invariably ready to fight over the board. He is the quintessential new-age chess star. After taking down India’s lone hope, R Praggnanandhaa, in the third round while doing so with the black pieces, the newly minted World Cup winner delivered another statement performance on Wednesday, dismantling one of the event’s most experienced favourites, Caruana, in the fourth round. A few months ago at the FIDE World Cup in Goa, Sindarov captured the hearts of chess fans with his dynamic style, sparkling quality of play, and irrepressible charm. Now, he is hogging the spotlight in Cyprus, tearing through a formidable field and storming to such a dominant start at the Candidates …

Catch him if you can: Javokhir Sindarov lays down the marker at Candidates, with resounding win against Fabiano Caruana; Pragg plays out safe draw | Cricket News

Javokhir Sindarov lays down the marker at Candidates, with resounding win against Fabiano Caruana; Pragg plays out safe draw

Javokhir Sindarov defies the very idea of a conventional chess player. He lacks the stoic composure of a Fabiano Caruana, doesn’t possess the sharp wit of a Hikaru Nakamura, and is far from the introverted nature of a Wei Yi. He exists as a complete anomaly. He’s the kind of player who will happily lean into someone else’s analysis, buzzing with energy, always smiling but invariably ready to fight over the board. He is the quintessential new-age chess star. After taking down India’s lone hope, R Praggnanandhaa, in the third round while doing so with the black pieces, the newly minted World Cup winner delivered another statement performance on Wednesday, dismantling one of the event’s most experienced favourites, Caruana, in the fourth round. A few months ago at the FIDE World Cup in Goa, Sindarov captured the hearts of chess fans with his dynamic style, sparkling quality of play, and irrepressible charm. Now, he is hogging the spotlight in Cyprus, tearing through a formidable field and storming to such a dominant start at the Candidates …

Why Maxime Vachier-Lagrave demoted Praggnanandhaa to the 3rd rung in his tier-list for Candidates | Chess News

Why Maxime Vachier-Lagrave demoted Praggnanandhaa to the 3rd rung in his tier-list for Candidates | Chess News

5 min readUpdated: Mar 20, 2026 09:06 PM IST French grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has put India’s R Praggnanandhaa in the third tier in his ‘tier-list’ for the upcoming Candidates tournament where he has analysed and ranked all the eight players in the open Candidates event. The French grandmaster made the comments in a conversation on the Chess with Mustreader YouTube channel, where he also accepted that his opinion about Pragg was a bit of a “hot take”. Vachier-Lagrave started his tier list by pointing out that he did not “discount anyone” winning the title, pointing out that if the Candidates were held 25 times with the same set of players, all of the eight players would win the event at least once. Before we get to what Vachier-Lagrave said about Pragg, here’s a look at his tier list (where S is favourite while A, B and C are in descending order of chances the players have of winning the Candidates according to Vachier-Lagrave): Here is Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s tier list: Tier S: Fabiano Caruana Tier A: …