Asian Games medallists to fight for title of FIDE Chess World Cup

Uzbekistan's breakout star Javokhir Sindarov reached the final of the FIDE Chess World Cup in Goa. The 19-year-old will take on China's Wei Yi (26) in the title match, starting Monday.

In the semifinal tiebreakers on Sunday, Sindarov defeated his compatriot Nodirbek Yakubboev, while Wei Yi got the better of Andrey Esipenko, after the Russian blundered a rook in the end game. Both semifinal match-ups witnessed a draw and a win each.

Interestingly, Yi and Sindarov were on the podium in the 2022 Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China in September-October 2023. Yi finished first on 7.5 points, while Sindarov claimed bronze with 6.5 points. Yi, who had a rating of 2735 then, defeated Sindarov (2607) in their Round 6 meeting.

However, Sindarov kept improving and had a brilliant 2025, starting with a remarkable run in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam at Weissenhaus in Germany in February. Sindarov had been invited to the event in place of Viswanathan Anand, who withdrew.

Sindarov had qualified for the Freestyle Chess event by knocking out India's R Praggnanandhaa and China's Yu Yangyi. In the main event, he shocked Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian and Vincent Keymer among others, before finishing fourth overall. He had not even hit the 2700-Elo points mark then.

The Chess World Cup is a prestigious event in the FIDE circuit, which began earlier this month with 206 players, including World Champion D Gukesh.