Javohir Sindarov became the best player among the first boards at the Global Chess League tournament

Javohir Sindarov became the best chess player among the first boards in the Global Chess League

Uzbekistan's grandmaster Javohir Sindarov successfully participated in the fourth season of the Tech Mahindra Global Chess League, considered one of the world's largest franchise chess leagues. He became the chess player with the most points on the Icon Board, where the franchise leaders competed.

The Global Chess League was held from September 5 to 13 in Bangalore, India. Six teams participated in the competition. Each team consisted of one Icon, two Superstar Men category chess players, two Superstar Women, and one Prodigy. Sindarov played on the most important — Icon board — for the first time: in previous seasons, he participated in the Prodigy and Superstar categories.

Alongside him in the FYERS American Gambits were Daniil Dubov, Nihal Sarin, Bibisara Assaubayeva, Sara Khadem, and Marc'Andria Maurizzi. The team's coach was Srinath Narayanan.

In the regular stage, each team played 10 matches. All six chess players of a team played with the same color pieces. Four game points were awarded for a win with black pieces, three for a win with white pieces, and one point to each side for a draw.

The team that collected more game points in an individual match received three match points. Time control was 20 minutes for each participant, with an increment of two seconds per move starting from move 41.

Sindarov won five games, drew three, and lost two in 10 rounds. In the traditional scoring system, this means 6.5 points out of 10, but under the GCL system, the Uzbek grandmaster brought 20 points to his team and outperformed all players on the Icon Board.

He defeated five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand twice, and also won against Alireza Firouzja, Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Sindarov drew with Firouzja, Magnus Carlsen, and Vachier-Lagrave, and lost to Nepomniachtchi and Carlsen.

For comparison, Carlsen accumulated 18 game points under the GCL system in 10 matches of the regular stage. The tournament winner Ian Nepomniachtchi had 15 points. Thus, Sindarov finished the group stage with the best result among the six first boards, and also recorded the third-best performance among all participants after Stavroula Tsolakidou of Greece (21.5) and Nihal Sarin of India (21).

Victories in the second half of the tournament were particularly important for the American Gambits. On September 8, Sindarov defeated Anand again with the black pieces, and the next day he overcame Firouzja — this was the only decisive game in the match against the Triveni Continental Kings, giving FYERS an 8:5 victory.

On September 10, Sindarov defeated Nepomniachtchi. The American Gambits crushed the future champions — the Ganges Grandmasters — 13:5 that day: in addition to the Uzbek chess player, Dubov, Assaubayeva, and Maurizzi also triumphed in their games. After eight matches, FYERS, Alpine APL Pipers, and Ganges Grandmasters each had 15 match points, with American Gambits and Alpine tied at 73 Game Points each.

Before the final round, the American Gambits lost to the Alpine APL Pipers 7:9. Carlsen defeated Sindarov with the white pieces, ending his streak of three consecutive victories.

Before the final match, the Uzbek chess player's team maintained a chance to reach the final. In the decisive match against the PBG Mumba Masters, Sindarov fulfilled the required task on his board: defeating Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with the black pieces, bringing four points to his team. However, in the overall score, FYERS lost the match 6:11. In particular, Nihal Sarin, who had a winning position against Pranesh, lost in time trouble.

As a result, the American Gambits finished the regular stage in third place with 15 match points and 86 game points. PBG Mumba Masters also accumulated the same number of match points, but they had 85 game points. The Ganges Grandmasters and Alpine APL Pipers, who accumulated 18 match points each, advanced to the final.

On September 13, FYERS and Mumba Masters played two matches for third place. The American Gambits prevailed in both matches — 3.5:2.5 and 4:2. Sindarov drew both games with Vachier-Lagrave. The main contribution to the victory was made by Nihal Sarin and Marc'Andria Maurizzi, who won two games each. Across the 12 boards, the American Gambits suffered only one defeat.

Sindarov's successful performance also had a positive impact on his live rapid rating. In FIDE's official September rating, his figure was 2732 points. After the victory over Firouzja, his rating reached 2742.6 points — which is 10.6 points higher than the initial value. At that moment, Sindarov climbed four places at once in the world live rating, rising from sixth to second place, trailing only Magnus Carlsen.

The Ganges Grandmasters won the Global Chess League 2026. The first final match against the reigning champions — the Alpine APL Pipers — ended in a 3:3 draw, and in the second, Ganges won 4:2. One of the key results was Nepomniachtchi's victory over Carlsen on the Icon Board.

Final top three: 1st place — Ganges Grandmasters, 2nd place — Alpine APL Pipers, 3rd place — Javohir Sindarov's FYERS American Gambits team.