THE TIME IS NOW! || Javokhir Sindarov vs Andrey Esipenko || FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026

Hello everyone and welcome to the first game we'll be covering from the Fed Candidates tournament 2026. This game features Javok Cindaro versus Andrea Sipenko. Both players qualified for the Fed Candidates Tournament via the Fed World Cup, with Javok even winning the Fed World Cup and Andrea securing third place. Wei, who took second place in the World Cup, is also participating in this event. The prize fund for the tournament is €700,000, with the first prize being €70,000. While a substantial amount of money, the primary motivation for these players is to win the tournament and challenge Gesh Maraj for the title of world classical champion. The time format for the candidates tournament grants players two hours each, but they must reach move 41 within that time, as there is no increment before move 41. Some players prefer this format, while others do not. The presenter personally enjoys it, as it tends to make games more interesting, especially if a player uses a lot of time in the initial 20 moves, potentially leading to struggles in the subsequent 20. This format is believed to produce more decisive results. Both the open and women's sections are polled prior to the tournament regarding their preferred time format, and their preferences can vary. This is the first video covering the tournament, and the presenter highlights a quote from Wei above the board: "If I win the candidates, maybe I will write another poem to Mr. Ding and invite him to join my team." Wei is known to be interested in poetry, offering a nice piece of lore about one of the great players. A photo of Wei giving his speech is shown, with Angelica present and all the candidates from both the open and women's sections in the background. The candidates visible from left to right in the top section are Anish Giri, Javok Cindaro, Andreas Penko, Pnan, and Fabi. In the middle, Hikaro, Matias Bluebound, BBS, Anna Muchuk, Dia Deshmuk, Vishali Prague's sister, Alexander Goryachkin, and Ahu are seen. Tanjong and Katrina Lakno are believed to be behind Wei. The candidates tournament and the entire channel are sponsored by Lotus Chess. The presenter invites everyone to join, noting that the app has grown from 200,000 users to 300,000 users in the last 45 days. Lotus Chess is an excellent app for learning chess, now featuring endgames, and can be accessed via the first link in the description. The app is sponsored by the German brothers Rafael and Maxim Niche, who sponsor the channel so viewers don't have to watch ads. The presenter highly recommends trying the app. The game begins with Javok, playing white, opening with pawn to D4, followed by d5 from black. The game continues with pawn to c4, pawn to e6, knight to f3, knight to f6, and knight to c3, followed by bishop to e7, establishing the Queen's Gambit Declined, Three Knights Variation. After a trade in the center, white plays bishop to f4, a less common but still viable move compared to the more popular bishop to g5. Black castles kingside, and white plays pawn to e3. Instead of the most common c6, black plays pawn to c5. White plays bishop to d5, provoking c4, and black responds with knight to c6. White castles, and black plays pawn to c4, leading to a transposition into the standard Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined. White plays bishop to c2, and black's knight to h5 targets the bishop. White responds with bishop to e5, and black plays pawn to f6, leading to a fork. Javok used more time here, while Yipenko spent less than 10 minutes. This position is a known one, having been reached in the 1988 Reykjavik Open between Helgi Olafson and Halder Einerson, where Helgi won a "very nice game." In that game, Helgi played knight to g5, which the engine recommends as the top move. However, Javok opted for bishop to g3, a different choice in a known position. The presenter speculates on whether this was preparation or not, given the deviation from the established strong move. The knight to g5 move is tricky, threatening the h7 pawn and the knight on h5, forcing black to play g6 and creating complications. While the position remains equal, it's challenging for black to navigate. Javok might have avoided this line, perhaps believing Espeno, an excellent calculator, would find the solution with ample time on the clock. After Javok plays bishop to g3, the game becomes entirely new from move 12. Black plays pawn to f5, limiting the light square bishop's power and opening a diagonal. White plays bishop to e5, offering a trade, but accepting it would lead to issues for black with the d5 pawn hanging. Black instead plays bishop to e6 immediately. White plays pawn to b3, black queen to a5, white knight to e2, black pawn to b5, white knight to f4. After knight captures on f4 and e captures on f4, black plays queen to d8. White develops rook to e1, and black plays queen to d7. The position is equal, though black's bishop is somewhat passive, not serving as the base of the pawn chain. White plays rook to e3, black rook a to e8, and white plays pawn to h4. Both players have almost an hour each after 20 moves. Black plays pawn to h6, white g3, and black pawn to a6, solidifying the position. White king to g2, and black bishop to f7, aiming for a better square and potential trades. White queen to d2, black bishop to b4 attacking the queen, and white queen to e2. Black plays bishop to h5. The position looks tough for Javok, but he finds pawn to a4. Black plays bishop to a5, white captures on b5, black captures on b5, and white bishop to d1 – a "nothing move." Black has 30 minutes, while Javok has only 6 and a half, with 13 more moves to reach time control. The optimal move for black here is bishop to b6. However, Yespeno forces a trade by playing bishop captures on f3, queen captures, and then bishop to b6, which seems even better. Despite having little time, Javok finds the "absolutely amazing" rook to a6. Black plays knight captures on d4. White plays queen to h5, threatening mate. The only move that doesn't lose the game for black is rook captures on e5. If black moves the bishop, white plays rook captures on h6, leading to an unavoidable checkmate. After queen h5, rook captures on e5 is forced. White plays rook captures, and black must play bishop to c7 to maintain a playable position. However, Penko, also low on time, plays queen to c6, giving Javok the win. The winning move for Javok is b captures on c4. If black captures with the other pawn, white plays bishop to f3, trapping the queen and leading to a winning endgame for white. After b captures on c4, white plays bishop to a4, winning a key square. Black plays queen to g6, putting pressure, but white's plan is unstoppable. If black tries knight to c6, white captures on b6, and black has nothing. After queen to g6, white plays bishop to a7, seemingly the only way to hold. White then plays rook to e8, the main threat all along. After rook captures on e8, queen captures, king h7, white plays queen to g6 with check, king to g8. White plays bishop to d7, a beautiful way to finish. Black plays pawn to c3, pushing a pawn. White plays queen to e8, forcing a repetition with king h7, queen to g6 check, king to g8. Move 40 is reached, meaning no time loss, but black is still one move away from losing. Javok finishes in great style with rook to e6. On move 41, upon reaching time control, Andreas Penko resigned, as there are no moves left for black. If black captures the rook, white plays bishop captures. If king goes to f8, queen f7 is checkmate. If king goes to h8, queen d8 check, king h7, and then bishop to g8 check, king h8, bishop to f7 check, leading to a forced checkmate. This was a very nice victory for Javok in round one of the Fed Candidates Tournament 2026. Having won the Fed World Cup, he starts the Candidates Tournament with a win, moving one step closer to challenging Gesh for the title. Other games and results are also happening and will be covered shortly. The presenter thanks Darren Singh Scarsboro, Carlton Mary Turklenquist, BBY Ray, and Oscar Nitson for their contributions to the channel. Viewers are invited to check out previous videos. Thank you all for watching, and the presenter will continue to check on suggestions and chess world happenings.