History Being Made || Wei Yi vs Javokhir Sindarov || FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 R6

Javokhir, currently with four and a half points out of five, is on a remarkable run in the tournament, facing Wei Yi, who has drawn all his games and only lost to Fabiano Caruana. In contrast, Javokhir has won all his games, drawing only once against Matthias Bluebaum. The game begins with Wei Yi, playing white, opening with pawn to E4, met by Javokhir's pawn to E5, leading to the Vienna Game with knight to C3. Javokhir responds with knight to C6, employing the Max Lange Defense. Wei Yi plays bishop to C4, and Javokhir follows with knight to F6. Wei Yi quickly plays D3, and Javokhir responds with knight to A5, attacking the bishop. Wei Yi immediately plays pawn to A3, threatening bishop to A2, prompting Javokhir to capture the bishop with his knight. Wei Yi recaptures with his pawn, doubling his own pawns early in the game, a surprising move aimed at creating an exotic position to gain an advantage. Instead of the common C6 or D6, Javokhir plays bishop to C5, a move previously seen in a game where another Uzbek player, Yakubboev, played it with white against Robert Hovhannisyan in the 2018 World Blitz Championship, which black won. Wei Yi plays knight to F3, and Javokhir responds with pawn to D6. By move eight, after Wei Yi's queen to D3, the game enters completely new territory, with Wei Yi still within his preparation, indicated by his clock time. Javokhir, however, spends nine minutes on his next move, bishop to E6, suggesting he is out of his prepared lines. Wei Yi plays bishop to G5, and Javokhir responds with pawn to A5 to stop pawn to B4. Wei Yi then plays knight to D5, pressuring the knight on F6, and Javokhir kicks it away with pawn to C6, leading to a trade. After knight captures with check and G captures, Wei Yi plays bishop to H4. Javokhir responds with rook to G8, asking if Wei Yi intends to play bishop to G3 or castle kingside. Wei Yi castles almost instantly, which is the top engine recommendation. Javokhir plays pawn to A4, fighting against Wei Yi's pawn to B4. Wei Yi, now out of his preparation, spends 35 minutes but still plays the best move, pawn to B4. Javokhir captures on B3 with his A pawn, and Wei Yi recaptures with his C pawn, undoubling his pawns. Javokhir plays bishop to G4, putting pressure on the knight on F3. Wei Yi repeats pawn to B4. Javokhir captures the knight on F3 with his bishop, and Wei Yi recaptures with his queen. Javokhir then plays bishop to D4, a tricky move that threatens Wei Yi's rook and offers a free pawn on F6. Wei Yi, unable to resist the free pawn, captures on F6 with his bishop, a decision made after spending over 45 minutes on the move. Javokhir responds with queen to D7, and Wei Yi plays rook A to D1, attacking the bishop. Javokhir moves his queen to E6, finding good squares for his pieces, with the bishop on D4 and the rook on the G file being particularly active. Wei Yi plays pawn to H3. By move 20, Wei Yi is down to 17 minutes, having burned significant time on earlier decisions. Javokhir captures on C4 with his queen, and Wei Yi plays rook to D3, giving back the pawn and consolidating his position. Javokhir moves his queen back to E6, preparing rook to G6. Wei Yi plays rook F to D1, and Javokhir plays rook to G6, attacking the bishop. The engine suggests that black is better after rook captures on D4, requiring white to give up the exchange to stay in the game. However, Wei Yi plays bishop to H4. Javokhir plays king to F8, a fine idea to counter Wei Yi's plan of queen H5 and defend his pawn. Wei Yi plays queen to H5, and Javokhir responds with king to G8. Wei Yi plays king to H1, unpinning from the G file and a diagonal. Javokhir then plays pawn to C5. Wei Yi, suffering on time, plays pawn to F4. Javokhir captures on F4 with his E pawn, and Wei Yi moves his queen back to F3. Javokhir plays rook to E8. Wei Yi realizes the situation and quickly plays bishop to F2. After bishop captures and queen captures, Javokhir plays queen captures on E4. The only way for Wei Yi to stay in the game would be to capture on C5 with his B pawn and then play rook to F3, a difficult line to find with only six minutes on the clock. Wei Yi plays rook captures on D6. Javokhir recaptures with his rook, and Wei Yi recaptures on D6. Javokhir plays queen to E3, creating a difficult position for Wei Yi, as trading queens would lead to a forced loss. Wei Yi plays queen to F3, but Javokhir advances his pawn, creating another passed pawn. After queen G4 check, king to F8, rook back to D1, pawn to C3, and queen G5, Javokhir plays pawn to F3, not allowing queen H6 and offering a queen trade. Wei Yi captures on E3 with his queen, and Javokhir recaptures with his rook. On move 36, Wei Yi resigns. The position is completely lost for Wei Yi, as Javokhir has a clear path to promotion with his C pawn, even if white manages to capture the F3 pawn. Javokhir's victory moves him to 5 and a half points out of 6, a performance rating of 3150 in the Candidates tournament, which is almost unprecedented. This achievement has only been matched once by Veselin Topalov in 2005, who also had 5 and a half out of 6 after six rounds. Javokhir's current live rating is 2770, just 10 points away from the world number four, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, also from Uzbekistan. His continuous winning streak and invigorating style of play are highly praised.