Sindarov wins 2025 FIDE World Cup

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Javokhir Sindarov and Wei Yi compete for the Viswanathan Anand Cup in Goa. (All photos courtesy FIDE/Michal Walusza)

Uzbekistan’s GM Javokhir Sindarov is the 2025 FIDE World Cup champion. Sindarov defeated Chinese GM Wei Yi 2½–1½, winning the second game of the first rapid tiebreak on Wednesday, Nov. 26. This concluded almost a month of play in Goa, India.

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A victorious Sindaorv after his win in the finals.

Both players qualify for the 2026 FIDE Candidates Tournament, as does third-place finisher GM Andrey Esipenko (RUS), who defeated Uzbek GM Nodirbek Yakubboev 2–0 in the consolation match.

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Graphic courtesy of FIDE

Our last report brought us to the semifinals, with the two Uzbek Olympiad teammates squaring off on one side of the bracket and Esipenko – Wei Yi on the other. Both matches featured two draws in the classical portion, with no player wanting to take excessive risks.

In the playoffs, Sindarov won the first rapid tiebreak game against Yakubboev in a fine rook-and-pawn endgame:

Yakubboev was unable to bounce back, clinching Sindarov’s spot in the finals with a 2½–1½ victory.

After a draw in their first tiebreak game, Esipenko was pushing for a win against Wei Yi when disaster struck:

The 2½–1½ win for the Chinese grandmaster relegated Esipenko to the third-place match. Still, with three spots in the Candidates up for grabs, there was plenty to fight for.

Esipenko responded brilliantly from the tragic end to the tiebreaks, winning his first classical game against Yakubboev the very next day.

Forced to take risks in order to level the match, Yakubboev found himself worse out of the opening and lost again on Tuesday, clinching Esipenko’s spot in Cyprus with a 2–0 victory.

In the match for first place, the classical games were mostly level, although Wei Yi missed a chance for an advantage in an imbalanced endgame on Monday:

After a draw in the first playoff game, Sindarov outplayed his opponent in a back-and-forth open game that served as a fitting end to a tense, drawn-out event:

Sindarov earned $120,000 for his victory, with Wei Yi taking home $80,000. Esipenko won $60,000 for third, and Yakubbov $50,000 for fourth. The full distribution of the two million dollar (USD) prize fund can be found here.