Javokhir Sindarov has effectively unsettled his more experienced rivals at the Candidates Tournament by applying significant time pressure, all while maintaining his strong performance. After securing a victory against Wei Yi and achieving an impressive score of 5.5 out of 6 in Cyprus, he shared insights with FIDE, stating, “It’s always like you are playing with good comfort. The main thing is that if you have time, you should always try to be confident because if you overlook minor tactics, everything can change very quickly.”
Sindarov has developed a unique approach to managing his time during matches, taking care to deliberate on certain moves while quickly making others. “When I have a time advantage, I aim to play a bit faster, but only after thoroughly checking my options. I’m not focused on finding the absolute best moves, but when I sense there are winning moves, I take my time to think them through. Otherwise, I try to play quickly and pressure my opponent’s time, just as I do in every game,” he elaborated.
In addition to his strategic time management, Sindarov’s preparation played a significant role, as he has extensive experience with the Vienna Hybrid in eSports. “I have played this Vienna hybrid a lot in eSports, and we’ve had numerous games in that style. I anticipated it, but I didn’t specifically prepare for this line, so it caught me off guard. However, it resembles some Italian positions for Black, and White only had one tempo on a3. I’m pleased with my position but need to avoid giving him chances with moves like bishop g5,” he noted.
When discussing his team’s role in his preparation, Sindarov mentioned, “My team discovered this intriguing idea, and I found it appealing. It creates an interesting imbalance. From Italian positions, I often play knight f3 followed by knight c3, and when they play d6, I usually opt for knight a4. Queen d3 is a novelty I have in my database, with my only previous game featuring queen e2.” This could be an important consideration for Gukesh, who may face Sindarov in the upcoming World Championship.
Sindarov expressed surprise at his opponent’s a3 move, stating, “I understand he chose this opening to avoid my preparation. I appreciate his idea, but he needed to play more quickly; perhaps at some moment, he overlooked something.”
Furthermore, Sindarov emphasized his belief in making aggressive moves consistently, saying, “If he doesn’t push back, I will try to launch small attacks from that side.” Wei Yi commented on the match, stating, “After queen d3, I was still within the book, but the position was challenging for both players. Sindarov executed some strong moves, and after b4, I failed to notice the idea he had. The move bishop g4 was particularly strong, sacrificing the f6 pawn in favor of piece activity.”
For the next 35 minutes, Wei Yi calculated the implications of bishop g4 followed by rook takes. Sindarov concluded by mentioning how effectively he utilizes his opponents’ thinking time to his advantage.
