Uzbekistan’s new star part of Asia’s continued rise

The outcome was decided in the penultimate round. A draw against his closest rival, Anish Giri of the Netherlands, was enough for Javokhir Sindarov to win the World Chess Candidates Tournament in Cyprus.

“Every round was very, very tough, and the past week was the hardest of my life,” the new chess superstar said after his breakthrough victory. “I slept really badly and I’m glad it’s over.”

Winning the Candidates Tournament means Sindarov, 20, will now face the reigning world champion Dommaraju Gukesh of India for the World Chess Championship title in late 2026. With Gukesh just 19, it will be a duel between two young stars from the emerging chess nations of India and Uzbekistan.

Chess stars reaching peak earlier

Sindarov, who became a grandmaster at the age of 12 and has been in impressive form for months, dominated the Candidates Tournament from the start. The first decisive moment came as early as the fourth of 14 rounds, when he outplayed Fabiano Caruana, the top US favorite and 2018 World Chess vice-champion.

With that, the Uzbek took the lead in the standings and never relinquished it. In the first six games, he achieved a sensational five wins — a feat no chess player had ever accomplished in a high-level Candidates tournament.

Sindarov represents a continuation of a trend towards younger players reaching the top of the sport from outside the traditional chess-playing nations of Europe. Primarily these prodigies are from Asia and that continent’s dominance in chess was also evident in Cyprus in the women’s competition. India’s Vaishali Rameshbabu won the Candidates Tournament by beating Russia’s Kateryna Lagno in the final round and earning the right to challenge world champion Ju Wenjun of China.

It comes as no surprise that Uzbekistan is now establishing itself as a chess powerhouse alongside China and India. “The young talents in Uzbekistan are really, really strong,” Rustam Kasimjanov, a former elite player from Uzbekistan, told DW recently.

Kasimjanov, who has lived near Bonn for many years, is considered the catalyst for the chess boom in the central Asian country and has personally trained many of Uzbekistan’s young chess stars. The conditions for top-level chess in his homeland are now very good: “In Uzbekistan, the state has been supporting the sport of chess with substantial funding for several years,” he added.

German influence

Former champion Kasimjanov isn’t Sindarov’s only connection to Germany. His head coach, Roman Vidonyak, was born in Ukraine but lived in Munich for many years. He has been coaching Sindarov for about a year.

“We still have big plans,” he told chess news site Chessbase following his protege’s victory. Now the goal is to win the world championship title and then try to establish Sindarov as the dominant player of his generation. The man standing in the way of that mission is the reigning world champion Gukesh, who, at 19, is even younger than Sindarov.

Since winning the title in late 2024, things haven’t been going well for Gukesh. He currently ranks only 15th in the world. Sindarov’s chances of becoming world champion this winter are therefore fairly strong. The Norwegian Magnus Carlsen is still considered the best chess player around, but he no longer competes in world championship games, preferring other formats.

Germany struggling to keep up with Asia

Aside from Sindarov, Germany’s Matthias Blübaum also enjoyed a strong tournament. “The lone wolf from Lemgo,”  as the chess magazine New in Chess labeled him, was a surprise qualifier for the Candidates Tournament and became the first German to compete in it for over 35 years.

As an underdog, Blübaum took few risks in Cyprus, defending prudently, and steering his games towards a draw round after round. Even rising star Sindarov could not manage more than two draws against him. Blübaum suffered only two losses.

“It’s amazing how confidently Matthias Blübaum plays against the world’s best players,” Ingrid Lauterbach, president of the German Chess Federation, told DW. With Blübaum and top-10 player Vincent Keymer, Germany is currently the only chess nation in Europe that can get anywhere close to India and Uzbekistan.

“In Uzbekistan, as in India, we see what happens when a lot of money is invested in chess,” Lauterbach added. But for the time being, she can only dream of such developments in Germany.

Blübaum’s success has so far failed to produce the powerful sponsor hoped for by the cash-strapped sport in Germany. Nevertheless, around EUR 90,000 in support were ultimately raised for Blübaum. The funds came in part from the German Chess Federation, and there was also a special round of state funding. In the end, to make sure that Blübaum could take his own coaches to the tournament the chess officials even organized a crowdfunding campaign online.

This article was originally published in German.