PEYIA — Javokhir Sindarov clinched victory in the Candidates tournament in the beach resort town of Peyia with a round to spare, earning the right to challenge Gukesh Dommaraju for the world chess championship this fall. The 20-year-old Uzbek grandmaster secured first place in the 14-game double round-robin by drawing his game in 58 moves with the black pieces against Anish Giri.

After the draw, Sindarov moved to 9½ points, two points ahead of Giri with one round remaining. Giri had entered the penultimate round in mathematical contention for victory after failing to convert a winning position against Wei Yi in the previous round. Sindarov finished the tournament unbeaten with six wins and seven draws in 13 games, and will play as white against Wei Yi in the final round.

"I felt very comfortable during the game," Sindarov said of the decisive draw. He described the strain of the event in further remarks after clinching the title.

"It was the hardest week in my life. I even slept really bad the last few days. I am very happy to finish this tournament with a win," he said.

Sindarov was awarded €70,000 from the €700,000 prize fund as the tournament winner, receiving €5,000 for each half-point he scored. The world championship match between Sindarov and Gukesh is expected to take place in November, though the dates and host city for the best-of-14-games contest have not been confirmed.

It will be the second consecutive title match contested by two men from Asia, and both players will be under 21 years old when they meet. Gukesh is roughly six months younger than Sindarov. Gukesh became the youngest world chess champion in history when he defeated Ding Liren in Singapore in 2024, winning the title in the 14th and final game of their match.

"I do not want to think a lot about the upcoming World Championship match right now. I know it will be a very hard match," Sindarov said. "Gukesh has experience playing at this level. I have a very good team. I have a lot to work on, and I will work a lot for this and take my chances."