‘Fist pump for myself’ as D Gukesh cooks Javokhir Sindarov

Endgame offer. The variation in Caro Kann defence that was played on the board could not have been named more apt.

For, world champion D Gukesh ‘offered’ a rare glimpse of his emotion after the ‘endgame’ in which he cooked challenger Javokhir Sindarov’s goose in the fifth round of the rapid section in the GCT Rapid & Blitz tournament in Poland on Wednesday.

Gukesh celebrated a win (worth two points in the rapid section) with a fist pump which he later described as — “for myself”.




Yes, it was not a draw pact in Warsaw. That was kept for the next round as Gukesh and Wesley So found three-fold repetition after just 14 moves.

Sindarov will try to dethrone Gukesh in the World title match, expected to be scheduled later this year. As such, their matchup carried an added significance. The 19-year-old, who has slipped below top-15 in world rankings, had lost horribly against Radoslav Wojtaszek in the previous round. “It’s a rapid (25+10) game,” Gukesh told the official broadcast. “Obviously not (as deep as classical). The match will be a different experience. But when you play a game like this, there is always something running behind.”

Gukesh added that during the game he was trying to focus.

“When I played against Ding (Liren) before the match in 2024, there was always something going on. (Hence) It is a nice feeling (to win). The fist pump was myself. I felt really good. And in the heat of the moment, I did something (smiles).”

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