‘I’m not even the best player in Uzbekistan’: Javokhir Sindarov

OSLO: World Championship challenger Javokhir Sindarov appears to wear his stardom lightly. The Uzbek’s appearance is friendly and his smile towards the fans genuine. He let us in on a secret here. “I will be going to the US for the World Cup to support my Uzbekistan team,” he revealed, “But I will miss the first game as I will be playing in Hong Kong at that time (World Team Rapid & Blitz meet).”The 20-year-old who will try to dethrone D Gukesh later this year says he is “not even the best player in Uzbekistan”, showing deep respect for his senior and Olympiad gold winning team-mate Nodirbek Abdusattorov. He recalled how his grandfather taught him chess after he once woke up at night after everybody went to sleep and was playing a computer game till 4 am.The World No. 4 has a hectic schedule from July onwards: Global Chess League, GCT rapid & blitz event besides Sinquefield classical event in St Louis and the home Olympiad. About preparing for the Gukesh match, Sindarov said, “My team will prepare. I will look at specific things intensely only 2-3 months before the match.”In the process, he also revealed that he hardly uses chess engines while preparing.