BENGALURU: Since the beginning of 2024, an Indian player or team has won the Candidates, the Olympiad as well as the world title.
Since the beginning of 2022, an Uzbekistan player or team has won the Candidates, the Olympiad as well as the World Cup.
It's why the upcoming World Championship, spanning three weeks from the end of November, has been in the works for at least a few years. India and Uzbekistan have dominated the game over the last few years. This match-up between D Gukesh and Javokhir Sindarov — who have, between them, featured in two gold-medal winning Olympiad team teams, won two Candidates, one World Cup and one world title — is also logical for another reason.
A clash between two 20-year-olds.
In 2012, Viswanathan Anand and Boris Gelfand featured in the World Championship. They were both over 40 at the time. In 2026, when the match begins, the combined ages of both protagonists will be 40.
The pandemic hastened the arrival of prodigies on to the world stage and this title clash is the ultimate proof of where elite chess is headed. Youngsters and prodigies, barely out of their teens, routinely winning the biggest tournaments.
The match itself promises to be a blockbuster because they are both well-rounded players who will fight not for survival but for creating chances. That's even before getting into the narrative-rich dynamics.
There has been a rivalry brewing between India and Uzbekistan for the last few years. The latter came and pipped India in India for Olympiad gold in 2022 in Chennai (Sindarov was part of that team). Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Uzbek's own child prodigy, has already beaten Gukesh a few times in classical chess. In a video last year, supposed to be taken lightly, he said he didn't think Gukesh will retain the title. There's a feeling that he will likely help Sindarov during the match.
They are friends off the board and have already shared the world stage during their Olympiad exploits with Uzbekistan. Both are familiar with each other, have a good chemistry and will be comfortable with each other. Apart from that, it will also give Abdusattorov a ringside view of the prep needed before and during the clash.
GM Srinath Narayanan agrees with the assertion that this final has been years in the making. "They have players of a similar age," the coach-cum-administrator, tells this daily. "Similar stories, growing up in front of us over the last few years. It's also exciting to have super young players to decide the World Championship."
While he does say that Sindarov will be the favourite if the match was to start tomorrow, overall, 'they are two exceptionally strong players who are pretty well rounded'. "I'm still not sure what to make of Javokhir's style. He has progressed a lot in the last 2-3 years. Some of the things which were perceived to be a weakness of his, he has made tremendous progress. I don't see any stylistic differences. At their best, it would be hard to find any particular weaknesses against either of them."
The other clear theme of the game is how chess has become super young, especially at the very top. Narayanan, who has coached some of India's wunderkinds, including Arjun Erigaisi, says 'change is happening at a much faster rate'. "Chess is getting younger and younger, younger players are able to adapt quicker to the changing dynamics. They are able to memorise and remember more."
'Logical' choice to host 'in India and/or Uzbekistan'
The venue for the final is yet to be decided but Emil Sutovsky, CEO of FIDE, the world governing body, put out an interesting post. "India and/or Uzbekistan are two logical options (to host the tournament)," he wrote on X. Post the ban on Russia to host FIDE-level events, these two countries have emerged as one of the hottest destinations to host big-ticket events and it just makes sense to split the event across the two countries.
Events won by Uzbekistan or Sindarov since 2022 (only Open)
2022 - Olympiad
2025 - World Cup (Sindarov)
2026 - Candidates (Sindarov)
Events won by India or Gukesh since 2024
2024 - Olympiad
2024 - Candidates (Gukesh)
2024 - World Championship (Gukesh)
Likely venues
India and Uzbekistan have also emerged as a popular destination for FIDE's blue-riband events. A list...
2022 - Olympiad (Chennai)
2023 - World Rapid and Blitz (Samarkhand)
2025 - World Cup (Goa)
2026 - Olympiad (Samarkhand)