Twenty-year-old sensation Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan has run away with the Candidates Tournament, which determines the challenger to the reigning world chess champion.
With only a few games remaining, and with Sindarov posting the best performance in Candidates history, he seems a lock to challenge D. Gukesh for the World Chess Championship later this year.
This week’s position is from his game against China’s Yi Wei. Wei is white; Sindarov, black. This week’s position is a lesson in how to promote advanced passed pawns. With this hint in mind, please try to find black’s best move.
Sindarov’s c3 pawn is ominously close to promotion. He facilitates this by moving his f4 pawn to f3. White’s best reply is a queen trade, as Wei played. Other lines allow black to promote its ‘c’ pawn even quicker or snatch material. For example, queen to f5 is followed by the black f3 pawn taking the white g2 pawn with check. The white king takes the pawn, and black’s queen then checks from e2 and wins white’s rook.
After the queen trade, white is lost in all lines. The computer engines recommend that white’s g2 pawn take black’s f3 pawn, which Wei played. In reply, black’s c3 pawn steps onto c2, as played by Sindarov (see Diagram 2).
Here, white’s best move is rook to c1, albeit other lines lead to the same conclusion. For example, if rook to f1, then black moves its rook to d3, which prepares rook to d1 and the c2 pawn’s promotion. After Wei’s rook to c1, black’s rook moves to e2. This seals the white king to the first rank. White’s king races to help its rook stop black’s c2 pawn and moves to g1. But this is too little, too late, as Sindarov slides his rook to d2, preparing d1, check, which wins white’s rook and garners a new queen (see Diagram 3).
Returning to the position after pawn to f3 by black and the queen trade on e3, a natural consideration for white is the immediate rook to c1. However, the black f3 pawn advances to f2 (see Diagram 4).
Black’s threat of rook to e1 also wins white’s rook and garners a new queen.
Only 18 months ago, Sindarov was not ranked in the top 50. He won the 2025 World Cup to qualify for the Candidates Tournament. By the end of the year, he could be the new world chess champion. A true rising star.
Reach Eric Morrow at ericmorrowlaw@gmail.com or (505) 327-7121.
