Uzbekistan’s Javokhir Sindarov broke the record for most wins by a player in a FIDE Candidates tournament (open category) in the currently used double-round-robin format.

Sindarov beat India’s R Praggnanandhaa on Thursday in Round 10 to mark his sixth win of Candidates 2026 and move to eight points from a possible 10.

With this, the Uzbek GM went past a clutch of players who had won five games each in a Candidates tournament since the introduction of the current format – D Gukesh and Hikaru Nakamura (2024), Ian Nepomniachtchi (2020-21 and 2022), Fabiano Caruana (2018) and Magnus Carlsen (2013).

Sindarov now has four more rounds to extend the record. He is also on course to go past Nepomniachtchi’s 9.5-point campaign in Madrid (2022)

The 20-year-old is two points clear at the top of the standings and is primed to win the tournament and emerge as the world championship challenger against Gukesh.

Published on Apr 09, 2026