The key facts
- Sindarov scored 20.5 points, finishing 1.5 points ahead of Praggnanandhaa; his prize money was $168,000 including bonuses
- His win over Nakamura in the penultimate round was named by Chess.com the best game of the tournament and a game-of-the-year candidate
- The title match against Gukesh will run from November 22 to December 12, 2026 in Geneva; both players will be 20 years old
Victory in Saint Louis
20-year-old Uzbek chess player Javokhir Sindarov won the international tournament Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown 2026, held on October 27–29 at the Saint Louis Chess Club (USA). According to Gazeta, he scored 20.5 points, finishing 1.5 points ahead of the Indian grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (19 points). Fabiano Caruana took third place (16.5) and Hikaru Nakamura fourth (12). The prize fund was $425,000: $125,000 for first place, and with bonuses for individual game wins and the jackpot, Sindarov's total earnings reached $168,000. The chess player's preparation and his participation in international tournaments, including the upcoming title match, are supported by the National Bank of Uzbekistan.
Format and course of the tournament
The tournament is held for the second year in a row: in 2025 Magnus Carlsen won, with Caruana second. In the current edition, four players each played 18 games — six per day, with opponents meeting twice each day with white and black. The time control was 10 minutes with a 5-second increment per move. The main feature was the increasing value of wins: one point on the first day, two on the second, three on the final day, plus cash bonuses of $1,000 to $3,000 for a win depending on the day. After the first day Nakamura led (4 points), with Sindarov second on 3.5. The second day went badly for the Uzbek: he lost to Caruana a game he later called one of the worst of his career. Before the final day, Sindarov and Caruana had 8.5 points each, trailing the leader Praggnanandhaa by 2.5. On the decisive day Sindarov did not lose a single game — three wins and three draws, including a win over the leader Praggnanandhaa, who blundered tactically, and a victory over Caruana in time trouble. Praggnanandhaa kept his chances of first place until the last round, but lost to Caruana after walking his queen into a trap.
The game against Nakamura
The brightest moment was Sindarov's win with the black pieces against Nakamura in the penultimate round: an attack featuring a bishop sacrifice and two exchange sacrifices ended with the American resigning. “It was one of the best King's Indian Defense games I have ever played. Even with the short time control, I played very well,” Gazeta quotes Sindarov. A Chess.com columnist called this game the best of the tournament and one of the candidates for game of the year. In the final game against Nakamura, Sindarov chose the Berlin Defense and secured first place with a draw. Note a discrepancy between versions of the publication: the Russian-language version of Gazeta calls Sindarov's opening the Old Indian Defense, while the Uzbek-language version calls it “shoh himoyasi” (king's defense / King's Indian).
What's next — the title match
The victory in Saint Louis was Sindarov's last official event before the world championship match against India's Gukesh Dommaraju. The match will take place from November 22 to December 12, 2026 in Geneva, with the first game scheduled for November 24. Under FIDE regulations , the opponents will play up to 14 games at classical time control; if the score is tied, the champion will be decided in a tiebreak on December 12. Sindarov earned the right to the match by winning the 2026 Candidates Tournament, while Gukesh became champion in December 2024 by defeating Ding Liren. At the start of the match both will be 20 years old — this will be the youngest title match in terms of the participants' age in chess history.
