Gukesh beats World Championship challenger Sindarov in Poland

World Champion D. Gukesh got the better of his 2026 World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov in their rapid game at the Grand Chess Tour: Super Rapid & Blitz Poland 2026 in Warsaw on Wednesday.

Playing with the black pieces, Gukesh defeated the Uzbek Grandmaster in 52 moves, converting a rook-and-minor-piece ending after Sindarov’s dangerous passed h-pawn was stopped on the seventh rank.

The game began with Sindarov choosing 1.e4, to which Gukesh replied with 1.c6, entering a Caro-Kann structure. The early sequence went 2.Nf3 d5 3.d3 Qc7 4.exd5 cxd5 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.g3 Bb4 8.Bg2 dxc4 9.Bf4 Qa5 10.dxc4 Bxc3+.

Gukesh obtained active play with Black and held the position together as pieces came off. Sindarov, meanwhile, tried to create counterplay with his advanced pawns and kept the game alive deep into the endgame.

ALSO READ: Magnus Carlsen loses a classical game after nearly a year; Arjun Erigaisi draws

The closing phase was sharp. Sindarov placed his rook on the eighth rank and pushed his h-pawn to the seventh, but Gukesh’s rook became active and his knight played a crucial defensive role.

The final sequence went 44.Ra8 a3 45.h4 Ne5 46.Bd5 Bc6 47.h5 Bxd5 48.cxd5 Ra1 49.h6 Rg1+ 50.Kf4 f6 51.h7 Rxg4+ 52.Ke3 Nf7, after which Sindarov resigned.

The final move, 52.Nf7, stopped the h-pawn from promoting, with the knight covering the promotion square. With Black also holding the material advantage and a dangerous passer on the queenside, there was no way back for Sindarov.

The win carried added significance as it came in a direct meeting between the two players scheduled to contest the next World Championship match.

Published on May 06, 2026