Bengaluru: As early as Round 3 of this year’s Candidates tournament, R Praggnanandhaa was in for a jolt. One that perhaps shaped his performance in the remaining rounds and led to his underwhelming finish. Javokhir Sindarov, his peer and rival from age-group events, defeated him twice – in Round 3 and 10 – and went on to win the tournament in Cyprus with a record unbeaten score.
They sat across from each other in Bucharest on Friday – one a newly-minted challenger to the world champion and the other his long-time adversary who just didn’t want to lose to him for a third straight time.
Playing with the Black pieces against Sindarov in Round 2 of the Super Chess Classic, Praggnanandhaa exacted revenge, to share the tournament lead with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Vincent Keymer. It ended the Uzbek Grandmaster’s 53-game unbeaten streak in classical chess all the way from the Grand Swiss tournament last September. “Beating him is certainly a good thing…He has been in terrifying form,” defending champion Praggnanandhaa said after his win. Praggnanandhaa was the only player Sindarov defeated twice in the Candidates tournament.
Until they met in the Candidates tournament earlier this year, it was Praggnanandhaa who had dominated their encounters – defeating Sindarov twice in the youth championships, 2022 Olympiad and last year’s UzChess Masters. It’s also why the Candidates defeats were hard for him to stomach. It came against a rival he had bossed over since they were young boys, in a tournament that perhaps mattered the most.
Since he won the Candidates (March28-April 16) Sindarov – he will play D Gukesh in the World Championship later this year – has earned high praise. Former world champion Garry Kasparov likened the 20-year-old to Boris Spassky in the mid-60s – “fast, intuitively finding the right spots for pieces, but also with dynamism. Unlike Spassky, he has excellent opening preparation.”
On Friday, Praggnanandhaa was surprised in the opening. The night before, while discussing possible openings with his second, the 20-year-old Grandmaster dismissed the Italian as the least likely to appear on the board and didn’t look at any of its variations on the morning of their game. It’s what Sindarov chose to play. “It was a surprise. I was trying to recollect my preparation and I think I managed to do it well. I kind of remembered more than he did which is already enough,” he told Chessbase India.
On move 15, Sindarov played Nh4?! – a fairly new move. Praggnanandhaa spoke of remembering the lines and getting stuck after the main line of 15. Rh4. After a brief think, he responded with – 15. Qd7, and 16. Rfe8 which left the World Championship contender contemplating for 32 minutes.
The move Sindarov came up with after an extended period of thought was inaccurate, giving Black adequate room for a fitting response. Sindarov sacrificed his knight to keep the battle going and despite being a piece down, managed to almost equalise. He needed to play 36. f4! for a draw, instead he played 36. Re3, which turned out to be a decisive mistake. Praggnanandhaa 36. Qg6! reply, getting out of the pin was enough to see him through. It’s a win Praggnanandhaa is likely to be mighty pleased with.
