Uzbekistan's GM Javokhir Sindarov defeated China's Wei Yi in the final tie-break 1.5-0.5 at the FIDE World Cup in Goa.
Credit: FIDE
The 19-year-old Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan won the FIDE World Cup (which incidentally is named as the Viswanathan Anand Cup) after he beat Wei Yei of China with a 1.5-0.5 win in the final tie-break.
Sindarov also entered the history books as the youngest ever to win and earned USD 120,000, his highest-ever prize money. Chess just keeps getting younger and most prodigies have started making their mark at the highest level of the game. Dommarju Gukesh had won the World Championship as an 18-year-old last year and this year 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh won the Women’s World Cup.
Sindarov, Yi and Andrey Esipenkoy finished in the respective order in this edition of the World Cup and have qualified to make their debut in the eight-player elite Candidates, where the winner will challenge Gukesh for the World title. The Candidates is scheduled at Cyprus next March. There were 24 Indians in fray in this 206-player event but sadly none of them could qualify. Praggnanandhaa is almost assured of qualification courtesy his leader status in the FIDE circuit as of now as it looks difficult for any other player to catch up with him.
Interestingly, this edition of the World Cup was one where ratings and reputations tumbled to be knocked out. None of the top 15 players managed to win the event. Today too higher-rated and 7th-ranked Wei Yi was regarded as the firm favourite but it was the spirited Javokhir, seeded 16th, who impressed all along with way. Today too when it mattered most, he held on to his nerve in severe time scramble to emerge on top.
India has proved to be a happy hunting ground for Sindharov as his Uzbek Team had won the Gold medal at the 44th Chess Olympiad in Chennai when Sindharov was just 16-year-old then. Incidentally, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, the highest rated Uzbek player, was one of the hot favourites in this edition but was eliminated early.
The first game was a Queen’s Gambit Declined game where there was only one moment when victory looked within sight on the 30th turn. It was, however, a big miss by Sindarov where exchanging bishops could have given him a winning advantage. Instead, a pawn push had the evaluation bar dropping drastically. to equality and draw was signed on the 45th turn.
Wei has been always making his move with just about a second to spare throughout this tournament but today in a complex position he faltered and ended on the losing side after missing way in a equal looking position. Sindarov, not one to miss an opportunity, immediately infiltrated the last rank with his queen and rook to set up a checkmating net on the 60th turn.
Results: 1st Final Tie-break: Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) bt Wei Yi (CHN) 1.5.5-0.5.