Javokhir Sindarov names two 'very strong opponents' he’s wary of ahead of Candidates debut

Uzbekistan Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov is ready for his debut at Candidates Tournament and he has admitted that there are two “very strong” players that he is wary of.

The first round of Candidates 2026 matches begin Sunday, March 29 with the tournament taking place in Cyprus. Sindarov is the youngest of the eight participants in the open section of the event and will be looking to make a mark.

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Evne though he admits that winning the star-studded event might be too hard for him, the reigning World Cup winner wants to give it his best shot.

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Sindarov wary of these two names at Candidates

The 20-year-old Uzbek has established himself at the top level and showed his mettle at the 2025 Chess World Cup where he won seven straight matches to win the title. At 19, he became the youngest Chess World Cup champion ever. The victory also helped him seal his spot for Candiates, a tournament now he has his eyes firmly set on.

“I think I want to prepare very good for this tournament and it’s my first time to play. I know it will be very hard to win, but I want to try. Everyone has a chance to win this tournament. And it’s only one tournament; if your chess was going very well, why not?,” Sindarov told Chess.com.

He also revealed that the American duo of Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura will be the two toughest opponents. “Of course they are very strong, so against them it will be a very hard match,” he said.

Coming into the tournament, Sindarov wants to surprise his opponents with some interesting openings. He is also hoping that this is only the first of many Candidates where he will feature.

“I don’t feel any pressure because I am very young and I hope it will not be my last Candidates Tournament and I will play many Candidates Tournaments!”

On his plan, he said: “play some interesting openings which surprises your opponents, so I will try to do something, but in general I don’t think about this. Only my team works. I should focus on my next tournaments. I will play like four or five tournaments in a row.”

The winner of the Candidates will challenge world champion D Gukesh for his title later this year.