Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov drew his ninth-round game at the 2026 Candidates Tournament against Matthias Blubaum while playing with the black pieces.
During the game, Sindarov gained a positional advantage in the middlegame. However, Blubaum responded with accurate defensive play and simplified the position following a queen exchange. The game transitioned into an equal endgame and concluded in a draw.
With this result, Sindarov reached 7 points out of a possible 9 and remains the sole leader of the tournament standings. In another ninth-round game, Anish Giri defeated Fabiano Caruana, bringing his total to 5.5 points. This leaves Sindarov with a 1.5-point lead over his nearest competitor.
Sindarov is scheduled to play his tenth-round game with the white pieces against Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa.
The Candidates Tournament 2026 is being held from March 29 to April 15 in Cyprus and features eight top-ranked grandmasters competing in a double round-robin format over 14 rounds. The winner of the tournament will earn the right to challenge the reigning world champion, Dommaraj Gukesh, for the world title.
The tournament has a prize fund of €700,000. The time control allocates two hours for the first 40 moves, followed by an additional 30 minutes for the remainder of the game, with a 30-second increment per move starting from move one. Draw agreements are not permitted before move 40. A win awards one point, a draw 0.5 points, and a loss zero points.
