Uzbek grandmaster Javohir Sindarov has been named the winner of the Best Chess Player — Male category at the inaugural FIDE Excellence Awards 2026, established this year by the International Chess Federation (FIDE). The prestigious award was presented to him on September 27 during the closing ceremony of the 46th World Chess Olympiad in Samarkand. This marks another shining triumph for the Uzbek chess school on the international stage.
The award evaluates players' achievements over the two-year Olympic cycle from September 2024 to August 2026. The FIDE Excellence Awards, introduced for the first time, will be presented every two years. Sindarov's participation in international tournaments, his preparation for competitions, and his work with coaches are supported by the National Bank of Uzbekistan. This sponsorship has been a crucial factor in the young player's success on the world stage.
The shortlist for the Best Chess Player — Male category included ten grandmasters. Besides Sindarov, another representative of Uzbekistan, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, as well as Magnus Carlsen (Norway), Fabiano Caruana (USA), Arjun Erigaisi (India), Alireza Firouzja (France), Anish Giri (Netherlands), Gukesh Dommaraju (India), Vincent Keymer (Germany), and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa (India) were nominated. After an open nomination phase, a special FIDE jury formed a shortlist of ten contenders in each category, and the winners were determined by the FIDE Excellence Awards expert panel. The award includes a total of 11 nominations.
During the two-year period under review, Sindarov achieved the greatest successes of his career. In 2025, he won the FIDE World Cup, becoming the youngest champion in the tournament's history. In the final, he defeated China's Wei Yi and earned a spot in the Candidates Tournament. In April 2026, the Uzbek grandmaster clinched victory at the Candidates Tournament ahead of schedule, securing the right to challenge Gukesh Dommaraju for the chess crown. Over this period, Javohir raised his rating by nearly 100 points and entered the world's top four. In July, when FIDE announced the award shortlists, Sindarov was nominated in two categories at once — Best Chess Player and Breakthrough of the Year. The latter award went to Turkish player Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus.
Sindarov received the FIDE award at the conclusion of the home Olympiad, where the Uzbek men's national team claimed the championship. The team secured 10 victories in 11 matches, accumulating 20 points and winning Olympic gold for the second time after Chennai 2022. Sindarov himself scored 7 points in 10 games (five wins, four draws, and one loss) and earned a bronze medal on board two with a performance rating of 2797. Within the FIDE Excellence Awards 2026, the Best Chess Player — Female category was won by India's Divya Deshmukh. The shortlist for the best female player also included Bibisara Assaubayeva, Alexandra Goryachkina, Humpy Koneru, Lei Tingjie, Anna Muzychuk, Tan Zhongyi, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Xu Wenjun, and Zhu Jiner.
Source: www.gazeta.uz