Javokhir Sindarov Defeats Nakamura, Retains Lead

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — On 3 April, Uzbek Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov defeated American Hikaru Nakamura in the fifth round of the 2026 Chess Candidates Tournament, playing with the black pieces.

This marks Sindarov’s fourth victory in the tournament. After five rounds, he has scored 4.5 out of 5 possible points, maintaining sole leadership and becoming the first player in Candidates history to start with such a dominant result.

The decisive moment in the game against Nakamura came during the opening. The American Grandmaster spent over an hour on the 13th move h4 but failed to find the optimal continuation. Similar to his previous round against Fabiano Caruana, Sindarov gained a temporal and positional advantage, gradually increasing pressure and controlling the game until the end.

In other fifth-round matches, Caruana defeated Matthias Bluebaum, while Rameshbabu Praggnanandha vs. Andrey Esipenko and Anish Giri vs. Wei Yi ended in draws. Sindarov will face Wei Yi with the black pieces in the sixth round on 4 April.

The 2026 Candidates Tournament is being held in Cyprus from 29 March to 15 April. Eight of the world’s top Grandmasters are participating, including Nakamura, Caruana, and debutant Sindarov from Uzbekistan.

Players compete in a double round-robin format for a prize fund of €500,000 and the right to challenge reigning World Champion Indian Dommaraju Gukesh for the chess crown.