Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan won the FIDE Chess World Cup today, beating China's Wei Yi in the final in the tie-breaker round. He also became the youngest champion in World Cup history and has qualified for the Candidates, too. The 19-year-old Chess prodigy was seeded 16th in the mega event and is the third teenager to clinch a major title in the Chess world in the past year, with Gukesh clinching the World Championship in 2024 and Divya Deshmukh emerging victorious in the Women's Chess World Cup and earlier this year.
The thrilling final went down to rapid tiebreaks where Sindarov, known for his aggressive approach, capitalised on a mistake from Wei Yi to seal his maiden World Cup crown. Along with the World Cup title, Sindarov also won the massive prize money of USD 120,000 (Rs 1.07 crore) while the runner-up Wei Yi took home USD 85,000 (Rs 75.9 lakh).
Three Candidates spots also sealed
Both players also qualified for the Candidates with Andrey Esipenko of Russia bagging the third and final slot from the World Cup. He won a prize money of USD 60,000 (Rs 53.53 lakh) while the fourth-placed Nodirbek Yakubboev won USD 50,000 (Rs 44.6 lakh) in the World Cup.
"It feels good to have qualified for the Candidates. Today, it was a very difficult game to play at this stage. I could not even calculate anything. I was just putting my pieces in place. It was important to win the first game and then he needed a must win," Esipenko said after qualifying for the Candidates.
Javokhir Sindarov also celebrated the World Cup win with his family later and the video of the same has gone viral on social media.
Also Read
