17:46 / 09.04.2026

Sindorov kept his lead despite the error in the 25th move...

Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindorov drew with Matthias Blubaum from Germany in the 9th round of the Candidates Tournament on April 8.

At the beginning of the game, Sindorov had a huge advantage, and the computer estimated his chances of winning at 4 points on the 25th move. However, at this point, Sindorov missed the move b7. As a result, the pawns and some light pieces were exchanged, the game went to an even endgame and ended in a draw.

It should be noted that despite not winning in the previous round, Javokhir Sindorov maintains the lead with 7 points.

The highest-rated match in this round was between Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri, who were in second and third place with 4.5 points. Giri scored 5.5 points in this match, reducing the point difference between him and Sindorov to 1.5.

Sindorov will play the 10th game today against Rameshbabu Praggnanandha from India with the white pieces.

In an interview, he said that the decision on move 25 was influenced by the situation in the tournament table and the desire to play more confidently. If he had been at the beginning of the tournament, he would probably have acted more decisively.

“I think I would have found this way when we played in the first round. But today I focused on playing carefully. I took a pawn in the endgame and wanted to continue in this spirit, but I completely missed his move to f5. This move turned out to be very strong,” Sindorov said in an interview with Chess24.

Jawohir’s patience and focus show that he is a more strategic and hard-working player, and fans are looking forward to his next game with great anticipation.