Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov played a draw against Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri in the fourth round of the Super Chess Classic Romania 2026 tournament, currently underway in Bucharest.
The game began with a sharp opening, but both players moved quickly and, according to Chess.com, only started serious thinking after the 17th move. Sindarov later attempted to break through in the center, but after numerous exchanges, the position approached a draw. Nevertheless, the Uzbek player continued to seek practical chances, testing his opponent until the very end.
The first move in the Sindarov-Giri game was made by Kazakhstani grandmaster Bibisara Assaubayeva, a three-time world blitz champion.
The decisive moment came around the time control: Sindarov tried to complicate the game, but Giri found a precise solution — sacrificing a piece to transition into a drawn rook vs. rook and knight endgame. Despite the theoretically equal position, Sindarov fought on until move 107, after which the opponents agreed to a draw.
After four rounds, German grandmaster Vincent Keymer became the sole leader of the tournament, securing his second victory by defeating Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. He leads his closest pursuers by half a point. Among them are Anish Giri, Jorden van Foreest, and Rameshbabu Pragnanandhaa. Sindarov is in 8th place with 1.5 points.
The game between Fabiano Caruana and Alireza Firouzja was postponed due to Firouzja's health issues.
In the fifth round, scheduled for May 18, Sindarov will play black against Alireza Firouzja. If the French grandmaster can continue in the tournament, the game will take place.
The Grand Chess Tour is not a single event but a series of tournaments. The Polish leg, the Romanian tournament, and subsequent legs in Croatia and the USA are part of the overall GCT-2026 season. Each tournament has its own winner, standings, and prize fund, but results also count toward the overall tour standings: players earn tour points for their placements in each leg. Based on the results of five legs, the players with the best overall scores qualify for the Grand Chess Tour final.
The Super Chess Classic Romania takes place from May 14-24 in Bucharest and is the first of two classical tournaments within the Grand Chess Tour. The format is a round-robin with 10 players, where each participant plays one game against every other. A total of nine rounds are scheduled, one per day. Games are played with classical time control: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, then 30 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move one.
Source: www.gazeta.uz