Candidates Tournament: Sindarov defeats Nakamura as well

Round 5 of the Candidates Tournament was held on April 3 in Paphos, Cyprus. In the round, Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov faced American star Hikaru Nakamura.

Playing with the black pieces, Sindarov defeated the world No. 2 and further strengthened his lead at the top of the standings. After five rounds, the Uzbek grandmaster has collected 4.5 points out of a possible five and remains in first place. The victory also lifted him to world No. 5 in the live rankings.

For reference, the tournament consists of 14 rounds and will continue until April 15.

Sindarov began the tournament by defeating Russia’s Andrey Esipenko in the opening round. He then drew with Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum in Round 2, beat India’s R Praggnanandhaa in Round 3, and followed that with a victory over American grandmaster Fabiano Caruana in Round 4, extending his impressive winning run before overcoming Nakamura in Round 5.