Sindarov holds lead after draw with Caruana

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — Uzbekistan’s grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov retained his lead in the Candidates Tournament after drawing with U.S. grandmaster Fabiano Caruana in the 11th round.

The game, in which Sindarov played with the black pieces, ended in a draw after 58 moves.

In other round 11 games, Anish Giri drew with Andrey Esipenko, Hikaru Nakamura shared points with Wei Yi, and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa drew with Matthias Bluebaum.

After 11 rounds, Sindarov leads the standings with 8.5 points. Giri is second with 6.5 points, while Caruana is third with 5.5 points.

The tournament is being played in a double round-robin format over 14 rounds. The prize fund is €500,000, and the winner earns the right to play a world championship match against reigning world champion Dommaraju Gukesh.

The regulations include classical time control and a restriction on agreeing to draws before move 40. The winner receives €48,000, while participants also earn €3,500 for each half-point scored.