Javokhir Sindarov Secures Place at 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament

Uzbek chess grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov has secured a spot in the FIDE Candidates Tournament, which will be held at the Cap St Georges Hotel & Resort in Cyprus.

Sindarov earned his place through a strong showing at the 2025 Chess World Cup. He will compete alongside Fabiano Caruana, Anish Giri, Matthias Bluebaum, Wei Yi, Andrey Esipenko and Hikaru Nakamura. Participants qualified via the FIDE Circuit, the Grand Swiss tournament and world rankings.

In the women’s section, top players include Zhu Jiner, Aleksandra Goryachkina, Divya Deshmukh, Humpy Koneru, Tan Zhongyi, Vaishali R., Kateryna Lagno and Bibisara Assaubayeva. Qualification was based on the Women’s Grand Prix series and the Women’s World Cup.

Winners of the Candidates Tournament will earn the official challenger status and face the reigning world champions in title matches.