Offering a pawn, though it's not a dangerous gambit as if Sindarov accepts it then there will be many ways for Yakubboev to quickly restore material equality.
Still offering the pawn, since if captured then Yakubboev would be able to build up a strong presence in the center.
A solid but at the same time quite ambitious opening system from Sindarov. It's a very theory-heavy choice, and for many years has been regarded as one of the most resilient options for the Black side.
A rare choice
This move is not so often seen, and yet it makes quite a lot of sense. Yakubboev wants to defend his queenside pawn to avoid some lines where the Black side captures it early and then even tries to hang on to it!
Sindarov decides to capture the pawn all the same. It's true that he's not going to go up material, but his idea is to force Yakubboev to waste time moving his queen around.
Yakubboev takes back, and will be hoping that his 2 vs 1 pawn majority in the center will more than make up for the fact he's having to waste some time with early queen moves.
A typical early queenside expansion, with the idea being not only to grab space, but also to prepare to fianchetto the light-squared bishop.
Dropping the queen back to the original square, from where it will support a central pawn push in the near future.
Sindarov fianchettoes
He brings the bishop to the long diagonal. For now, the piece is stuck behind a pawn. But in the future Sindarov will be hoping to make a pawn break by pushing that pawn forward and connecting with Yakubboev's queen's pawn.
Yakubboev rushes to grab as much of the center as possible, since this is the advantage he has fought hard to obtain.
Sindarov sends his pawn forward one more square, deflecting the knight away from central squares. In this way, Yakubboev's central pawn loses some key support.
Yakubboev drives the knight to the left-hand side. It might look a little passive here, but it controls a key square: the one where Sindarov wants to make the pawn break.
A multi-purpose move
Sindarov continues to follow tried and tested theory in this line. His move offers several benefits, from targeting the knight to x-raying the enemy king. And, perhaps most importantly, it also supports the pawn break.
Supporting the knight.
This is the pawn break we've been discussing for several moves. The reason it's such an important part of Sindarov's strategy is that it both frees up his light-squared bishop, and challenges Yakubboev's dominance in the center.
Yakubboev looking to bail out?!
After a very long think, Nodirbek decides to force a queen trade. This is a very concrete line which allows for comfortable equality for Sindarov, and it may suggest that Nodirbek is simply not sure of how the opening theory goes from here and he just wants to avoid any risk.
No choice but to accept the queen trade, with more piece trades coming up next!
Yakubboev recaptures with check, accelerating his development and robbing Sindarov of the chance to snatch the central pawn.
Sindarov blocks the check, and effectively forces another set of trades.
Sindarov is likely to be the happier of the two here, as the more pieces come off the board the more likely he is to coast to an easy draw.
Sindarov recaptures, while developing the knight. He's got immediate pressure on both of Yakubboev's central pawns.
Yakubboev targets the knight
This move covers the threat against one of his pawns, while also buying time by targeting the enemy knight.
Sindarov preparing for yet more trades
This is the problem for Yakubboev. There's still a tonne of pressure remaining against his central pawn, which means that more exchanges are forced.
Yakubboev has nothing better than to continue liquidating the position. But already as early as move 15, it's hard to believe that this one is going to end in any other result than a draw!
Sindarov recaptures
The knight trade will take place next. While the position is objectively balanced, it's still not a dead draw. Sindarov's pawn on the left hand side is if anything a little too far advanced, so that leaves him with some weaknesses on the queenside that Yakubboev will try to make use of.
Yakubboev didn't want to allow Sindarov to initiate the knight trade himself and leave him with doubled pawns, so he makes the exchange.
Sindarov takes back, finishing his minor piece development at the same time.
Yakubboev sets up a big threat
Sindarov cannot relax here, as his pieces are stacked in a line along the open file. So right now Nodirbek is threatening to win material on the next move!
Sindarov goes for a strong and energetic choice. The point is that if Yakubboev now targets the undefended minor pieces, then Sindarov can cover against the threat by lifting his rook to the center.
If anything, Yakubboev has to be a bit careful here. Given one more move, Sindarov would step his king out of the open file and then be in position to grab the pawn in the center.
Objectively speaking, this move is one of the top choices. But in human terms, I think it leads to a tricky situation for Yakubboev to manage.
The reason why it's tricky for Yakubboev is that now he faces a tough choice: does he capture the bishop (and leave himself with doubled/isolated pawns in the center). Or does he play rook takes knight, when long term Sindarov's bishop looks to be the stronger of the two pieces. I wouldn't be surprised if Yakubboev ends up in a clearly worse position 5 or 6 moves from now.
Kudos to Yakubboev for making the difficult but correct decision of fracturing his structure. The key is that while he will almost certainly lose a pawn, he will get enough rook activity in return that he should be able to bail out with a draw in the worst case.
Sindarov rushes to defend his pinned knight.
Yakubboev castles
For now it's not possible for Sindarov to take the pawn in the center, as then Yakubboev would win it back with interest due to the pressure along the semi-open file.
Sindarov cuts out the threat
Yakubboev was looking to jump his knight to the now covered square, as this would have forced the win of Sindarov's pawn on the semi-open file.
Yakubboev activates his rook
He's now threatening to perhaps double his rooks along the file at the right moment, as well as just generally pressuring Sindarov's most vulnerable pawn.
Sindarov consolidates his weakest pawn, and now has a quite harmonious position. The major issue is that it's very difficult for him to make progress.
Yakubboev doubles rooks
He adds to the pressure along the only open file of the position, immediately threatening to take the knight on the next move.
Sindarov supports the piece
He brings his last passive piece into the game, supporting his attacked knight.
Yakubboev activates his king
In the endgame phase, the king takes on a heightened importance, with its activity often deciding outcomes. So Yakubboev brings it closer to the center immediately.
Sindarov supports his rook
He wants to set up a situation where he can safely move his knight at the right moment, with his rook well-supported. A trade of pieces likely favors him, as the side with the healthier structure.
A state of limbo?!
Yakubboev centralizes his king as much as possible, and now we have a strange dynamic tension that doesn't seem to be possible for either player to break. Sindarov doesn't particularly want to retreat his knight, as that would allow Yakubboev's own knight to begin maneuvering (since it would no longer have to stay defending the central pawn). But if neither knight moves, then no rooks can get traded, and so each side is just...paralyzed?!
Sindarov returns his rook to the center, perhaps silently offering his opponent a draw if he wishes to repeat moves.
Yakubboev says 'play on!'
It looks like Nodirbek has winning intentions on his mind, or at least wants to try to generate some pressure. His last move is looking at perhaps fixing down Sindarov's structure on the kingside.
The waiting game
Sindarov seems to basically be saying to Yakubboev that he sees no way for either side to make progress, so he's just going to keep on shuffling his rooks around until his opponent runs out of useful moves and - perhaps - agrees to a draw.
Yakubboev follows through, grabbing as much space on the kingside as possible.
Sindarov supports his other rook
He now creates the possibility of moving his knight and offering rook trades at the right moment, though it's still not interesting for him as that would free Yakubboev's own knight to maneuver.
An uncomfortable move to face
This is the direct consequence of Yakubboev having pushed his edge pawn forward. Now it's not possible for Sindarov to push the pawn under attack. The thing is that if Yakubboev were to capture it, then there would be a knight check that would pick up the undefended rook. But that leads to a real mess, so Sindarov is likely feeling the pressure right now.
Safest
Sindarov pushes his pawn forward, immediately defending his base pawn on the kingside from the side.
Yakubboev is going to be the happier of the two to get this trade of pawns, since now he no longer has an isolated pawn while Sindarov's structure has become weaker.
Yakubboev lifts his rook forward, guarding against any knight check tricks and thus setting up the threat of bringing his rook forward to target the pawns on the kingside.
He brings his rook over to challenge Yakubboev's active rook, at the same time offering a draw.
Yakubboev recognizes that there's no real edge here for either side, and given that it's now move 30 (and the rules allow draws to be offered from that point), it's not a big surprise to see Nodirbek quickly accepting to split the point.
Overall, a solid game from both sides. Yakubboev did not get anything out of the opening, having been surprised by Sindarov in a relatively rare line of the reputable Semi-Slav.
From there, Yakubboev seemed to be the one who maneuvered best, unraveling from a position where it seemed only Sindarov could press for more. But though he was able to apply some pressure, it was never enough to truly trouble his opponent.
A tough fight and a fair result, and the players will be back tomorrow for the second and final classical game of their mini-match. See you then!
An all-Uzbek clash!
We are guaranteed that at least one player from Uzbekistan will make it into the prestigious 2026 Candidates tournament, as Nodirbek Yakkuboev and Javokhir Sindarov prepare to face off in the semi-finals of the 2025 FIDE World Cup.
It's impressive to see just how well represented this nation is at the highest level, with two of its Olympiad team members making it to the final four in spite of the relatively early elimination of their long-time number 1 player, Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
The stakes are incredibly high now, with three Candidates spots to be fought over by just four players. This means that losing a match at this late stage is not fatal to one's chances, as the two losers of the semi-finals stage will face off against each other for third place and one last chance at earning a spot in next year's tournament.
For those who are unsure about why such spots are so valuable, it is because the winner of the Candidates tournament gets to play a match for the highest title in chess: the World Championships!
Expect a lot of nerves and tension over the coming days, as we get ready to find out which of the final four will prove to be the unlucky one who comes agonizingly close to a seat at the Candidates only to fall at the final hurdle.