Sindorov and Yakubboev advance to the World Cup semifinals

At the 2025 FIDE World Cup taking place in Goa, India, Uzbek chess players Javokhir Sindorov and Nodirbek Yakubboev have won their quarterfinal matches and secured spots in the semifinals.

Nodirbek Yakubboev defeated Germany’s Alexander Donchenko 1.5–0.5 in the classical games. Javokhir Sindorov, meanwhile, faced Mexico’s José Martínez. Both of their classical games ended in draws, sending the match to a rapid tiebreak on 19 November. In the 15+10 time control games, each player scored one win. In the 10+10 games, Sindorov drew with the black pieces and won with the white pieces, claiming the match 3.5–2.5 overall.

As a result, Sindorov and Yakubboev will face each other in the semifinals, guaranteeing that at least one Uzbek player will reach the final — a first in the history of Uzbek chess.

Although the FIDE World Cup does not decide the world champion, the top three finishers earn qualification for the 2026 Candidates Tournament. This means that Uzbekistan will have at least one representative in the 2026 Candidates for the first time. Considering there is also a match for third place, both players have a chance to qualify.

The semifinals will be held on 21–22 November.

Semifinal pairings:

•  Javokhir Sindorov (Uzbekistan) vs. Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzbekistan)
•  Andrey Esipenko (Russia) vs. Wei Yi (China)

Earlier, it was reported that Javokhir Sindorov won the “Tepe Sigeman & Co Chess 2025” tournament held from 20 to 26 May in Malmö, Sweden.