Sindarov Erases a 2½-Point Gap to Win Clutch Chess

Javokhir Sindarov won the second edition of the Clutch Chess: Champions Showdown in Saint Louis, finishing the three-day rapid event on 20½ points. He began Thursday’s final session tied for second with Fabiano Caruana, 2½ points behind leader Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu.

Sindarov took $168,000 in prize money and bonuses. It was his last competitive appearance before his World Championship match against Gukesh Dommaraju, which opens in Geneva on 24 November.

How the scoring made it possible

The format raises the value of decisive games as the event goes on. On the final day a win was worth 3 points and a draw only 1, so a 2½-point gap could vanish in a single game. As our earlier look at the prize structure noted, the design rewards anyone willing to gamble late.

Sindarov scored three wins and three draws on Thursday, 12 points. Praggnanandhaa and Caruana each made 8, while Hikaru Nakamura, who had led after day one, made just 4.

Final standings

Sindarov 20½, Praggnanandhaa 19, Caruana 16½, Nakamura 12.

The turning points

Sindarov opened the day by drawing and then beating Pragg in their first two-game mini-match, which put him in front. Pragg answered with two wins over Nakamura, six points from that pairing.

In the first of them Nakamura had a clear edge after 31.Ne5!, since 31…Qxe5 loses to 32.Ng6+. He then let the initiative slip, erred in time trouble and lost in 43 moves.

Pragg went into the last two rounds 1½ points ahead. Then came the game of the event. Sindarov, Black against Nakamura in a King’s Indian Defence, began with a bishop sacrifice and later gave up two exchanges, keeping the initiative throughout.

He told Maurice Ashley it was “one of the best King’s Indian games I’ve ever played in my life”. On sacrificing further when already winning, he said: “If I started playing beautifully, let’s finish playing beautifully.”

Pragg’s late slip

Meanwhile Pragg ground against Caruana, playing a pawn up for long stretches, but Caruana defended accurately and drew after 100 moves. That left Sindarov half a point clear going into the last round.

Pragg needed a win with Black against Caruana, or else a Nakamura win over Sindarov. From a Slav Defence he set up a Stonewall structure and looked for complications. In the late middlegame he made a costly error that let Caruana trap his queen, and the American won.

Sindarov drew his last game against Nakamura and took the title by 1½ points. Pragg’s rise from last to first on day two therefore ended in second place.

What it means for Geneva

The King’s Indian win is the kind of result a 20-year-old challenger wants on his record. It was a calculated attack played against one of the strongest rapid players in the field. Sindarov won the Candidates earlier this year, and he now adds a title won from behind against elite opposition.

Rapid play with escalating points is not a classical match, and Gukesh will not be a rapid-event opponent in Geneva. Still, winning from 2½ points down shows nerve. The first game of the match is on 24 November.