Javokhir Sindarov Takes Third Place at 2026 Sinquefield Cup

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov secured third place at the Sinquefield Cup 2026 in Saint Louis, finishing with 5 points from nine games. Despite his strong performance, the 20-year-old fell 0.5 points short in the series standings required to advance to the Grand Chess Tour finals.

The Sinquefield Cup served as the fifth and final leg of the Grand Chess Tour, featuring 10 elite grandmasters competing in a round-robin format for a total prize pool of US$475,000.

Sindarov opened the tournament with a draw against Levon Aronian before suffering his sole defeat of the event in the second round, losing a 95-move pawn endgame to India's Rameshbabel Praggnanandhaa. He then logged four consecutive draws against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Anish Giri, Sam Sevian, and Fabiano Caruana. In his match against world number two Caruana, Sindarov neutralized a dangerous passed pawn to hold a draw, leaving him with 2.5 points after six rounds.

The tournament turned in the seventh round when Sindarov, playing with the black pieces, utilized the Benko Gambit to defeat German grandmaster Vincent Keymer following an endgame mistake by Keymer under time pressure. Sindarov followed with a victory against Jorden van Foreest in the eighth round, marking two consecutive wins and bringing his score to 4.5 points entering the final day.

In the final round, Sindarov needed a victory with the black pieces against Wesley So to claim the tournament title, but the match ended in a draw. So and Praggnanandhaa tied for first place in classical play with 5.5 points, leading to a playoff. After two draws in rapid games, So won the tiebreaker in an Armageddon match playing as black, taking the title and the US$87,500 first-place prize.

Sindarov concluded the Sinquefield Cup with two wins, six draws, and one loss, earning 5 points and a third-place finish.

Prior to the event, Sindarov held fifth place in the Grand Chess Tour overall standings with 20.5 points, trailing Keymer by 0.5 points. He previously finished second in the Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz stage of the series behind Praggnanandhaa. Praggnanandhaa, Wesley So, Fabiano Caruana, and Vincent Keymer advanced to the Grand Chess Tour finals, with Sindarov finishing just 0.5 points outside the top four qualifier spots.

In 2026, Sindarov won the FIDE Candidates Tournament, earning the right to challenge reigning world champion Dommaraju Gukesh for the World Chess Championship title. The Uzbek grandmaster is scheduled to compete next in the fourth season of the Global Chess League, taking place from 3 September 2026 to 13 September 2026 in Bangalore, where he will serve as top board for the FYERS American Gambits.