World Chess Weekly: Prince Sindarov On The Brink Of History As Gukesh Finds Form In Menorca
A remarkable week in chess ended on Friday with GM Javokhir Sindarov on the brink of a historic win in the FIDE Candidates Tournament—but with GM Anish Giri emerging as his main, perhaps surprising, challenger.
Right from the first move of FIDE's flagship world title eliminator in Cyprus Sindarov has been blazing a trail through the tournament like a man possessed, and fully prepared.
Going into Round 10, the 20-year-old had the chance to win for a record-breaking sixth time at the Candidates, in the modern format.
"I was ready for a big fight today," Sindarov said afterwards. And it was true.
Sindarov defeated GM Praggnanandhaa R in a striking game that leaves him in a near-unassailable lead in the event. With only four rounds remaining, Sindarov now leads the field by a full two points.
Sindarov could be further ahead. Wednesday's action saw the young Uzbek miss a clear opportunity to make GM Matthias Bluebaum his latest victim, allowing Giri to narrow the gap after defeating GM Fabiano Caruana with the black pieces.
It's hard to imagine a collapse from here.
"I think I am very close," Sindarov said afterwards. "But I still have two important games with Black. I'm just trying not to think about it and to play good chess as always."
Sindarov also shared his coach's advice: "If I deserve the title, I will get it, so don’t think about the result. And if I don’t, we will keep working toward it."
This time next week we'll know whether we have the youngest-ever world title match to look forward to: GM Gukesh D vs Sindarov. As it stands, only Girl on 6/10 looks able to stop him.
Gukesh In Action
Elsewhere, the champ Gukesh has been in action and seems to be rediscovering some form after his poor start to 2026.
At the Menorca Open Masters in Spain, Gukesh was on 2.5/5 going into Round 6. Not amazing for a World Champion, but it's a strong field and at least he's not going to finish joint-last like he did at the Prague Masters last month. Another Indian, GM Nihal Sarin leads the event on 3.5/5.
And The Euros
While the Candidates is raging, another big event has kicked off: the 2026 European Individual Chess Championships.
More than 500 players from 43 federations have gathered in Katowice, Poland, to compete in Europe's most prestigious open classical championship, vying for the continent's highest individual title and 20 spots in the next FIDE World Cup.
It runs from April 7 to April 19. You can watch each round with commentary here.