4 min learnApr 10, 2026 12:14 AM IST
On the happiest day of his fledgling profession, moments after he had received the FIDE World Cup in Goa to safe a spot within the Candidates match, when Javokhir Sindarov was requested if there was a selected opponent he was trying ahead to going through in Cyprus, the grinning Uzbek had hand-picked a boy who’s his up to date: India’s R Praggnanandhaa.
Sindarov’s reasoning for choosing the Indian prodigy was easy. They’ve a protracted historical past of locking antlers since they had been seven-year-olds.
“I performed him for the primary time again in 2013. Even at that age — I used to be simply sevenc– I knew he would turn out to be one of many high gamers on the earth…” mentioned Sindarov, “…as a result of he beat me.”
Sindarov had gone on to foretell a few “very fascinating matches” in opposition to Pragg on the Candidates in Cyprus. The Uzbek prodigy has greater than delivered on that prophecy, beating the Indian twice of their two head-to-head battles at this version of the Candidates match.
A defeat for Pragg roughly confirms that the Indian can’t win the match any extra since he’s now 4 factors behind the Uzbek prodigy with 4 rounds to go. With eight factors, Sindarov now leads the occasion with a two-point hole over Anish Giri. The win over Pragg additionally handed the Uzbek grandmaster the file for probably the most victories on the Candidates within the present format of the match — and that too with 4 rounds to spare.
R Praggnanandhaa and Javokhir Sindarov in motion. (FILE picture)
Pragg had come into the match with an imposing head-to-head file in opposition to Sindarov in classical chess. That file has been upended by the Uzbek in Cyprus after profitable each video games in opposition to the Indian. The rivalry between the 2 mirrors the one between world champion Gukesh and Uzbekistan’s high grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
The most recent installment of Pragg vs Sindarov shifted on transfer 22 when Pragg performed bishop to d7 — a transfer the engine flagged as a blunder. At that stage, the Indian had an additional bishop on the board versus Sindarov’s two extra pawns. Two strikes later, Sindarov sacrificed his queen to choose off each of Praggnanandhaa’s rooks. This materials imbalance — Pragg’s two rooks in opposition to Sindarov’s queen — stayed the identical until the sport ended on the 53rd transfer.
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Sindarov has appeared content material to play out attracts within the second half of the match, a trait highlighted by his choice to not go for the kill within the ninth spherical in opposition to Matthias Bluebaum. However in opposition to Pragg, he opted to chase victory — and it arrived.
“Pragg’s rating on the match has been very poor reward for his play. His play has been fairly good. He’s give you some good concepts, however basically he’s misplaced three video games since that first victory,” mentioned five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand within the FIDE commentary.
R Praggnanandhaa in motion. (FILE picture)
In a chat with The Indian Categorical in the course of the World Cup in Goa final yr, Sindarov had identified how his CV would have regarded so much totally different with out Pragg.
“He beat me in a whole lot of age group tournaments. If he wasn’t round at that stage, I might have received a minimal of two cadets tournaments,” Sindarov had chuckled goodnaturedly.
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As Sindarov recollected, again in 2013, he was on a scorching streak, going six out of six at a cadets championship. So was Praggnanandhaa. Then Pragg beat Sindarov — and it began a run of losses for the Uzbek.
Now 13 years later, on the Candidates, the defeat to Sindarov in spherical 3 was the beginning of Pragg’s occasion coming unstuck. The most recent chapter of the Pragg-Sindarov rivalry might have favoured the boy from Uzbekistan, however each 20-year-olds have many extra battles left on the board.
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