An early sign that Wei Yi wants to keep winning chances here, as he goes for the most reliable weapon when the White side wants to keep the game alive for as long as possible.
Modern chess! Back in the day, giving up the bishop pair so quickly would have been seen as a very bad idea. But modern computers have shown that this approach is surprisingly robust here, as Black's piece play becomes quite active.
Gaining time against Wei Yi's queen.
Sindarov has gone for a quite forcing line that has actually scored surprisingly well for Black, in spite of the fact that he voluntarily gives up the bishop pair so early on.
Sindarov might be looking to join forces with his other knight in the future, to try to map out an invasion on the kingside.
"This is completely new chess"
Peter Leko is baffled by the way that Sindarov has handled the opening, understanding that it is all computer-assisted preparation, but shocked at how much it seems to violate the general guidelines of chess (like not giving up the bishop pair, or not voluntarily retreating a central knight).
A very human move, grabbing space on the kingside, the part of the board where Wei Yi has the best attacking chances.
Sindarov supports his knight, and also eyes up the g4 square.
An uncomfortable move for Sindarov to face, as his knight now sits under quite a lot of pressure from Wei Yi's queen and bishop.
A big decision here for Wei Yi. He's got the opportunity to take the knight and force doubled pawns for Sindarov, but the drawback is that he would lose his bishop pair. Very hard to judge, so it's no surprise to see Wei Yi in the tank.
Now it's Sindarov who has the unpleasant choice of deciding which way to recapture. Taking with the queen forces the endgame, but perhaps Sindarov will feel that the middlegame offers him better chances to draw. It's too close to call.
Sindarov has handled the tricky position very well, but the Uzbek grandmaster still has some difficult decisions ahead of him. He is the side with a greater pawn mass in the center, but his pawns are also very rigid and potentially vulnerable.
Wei Yi supports the central pawn, and at the same time adds another piece to the kingside.
Wei Yi looking for a fast pawn break, but Sindarov can push his own pawn forward to stop it on the spot.
Wei Yi might be looking to bring his final passive piece into the game. If the rook can double up on the central file, there will be a lot of indirect pressure against Sindarov's doubled pawns in the center.
Sindarov lifts his bishop, defending the pawn that may come under fire should the central file open up.
If anything, it's Wei Yi with the more unpleasant position. The problem for him is that he's lacking quite a bit of space, due to Sindarov's strong central pawn presence.
Sindarov with a really interesting chance here, to maneuver his knight in order to jump to a strong square from where Wei Yi's queen will be under fire.
Wei Yi breathes a sigh of relief, as Sindarov agrees to lock down the structure. Now the pressure is off against the Chinese player.
His knight hasn't been taking part in the game for some time, so he drops it back and looks for a promising maneuver along the kingside.
With the structure so locked, it's hard for either side to make progress. High chance that this one ends up in a draw.
Wei Yi jumps forward, in order to defend the pawn on the right hand side.
He pushes the pawn forward, rather than sliding his queen back to target the pawn. Wei Yi was essentially offering him to go for a draw by repetition, so it's clear that Sindarov wants to try and win from here!
But Sindarov's last move may have been impulsive bordering on reckless. With Wei Yi's rook on the left hand corner, the Chinese player is absolutely ready for an open fight on that side of the board.
Now Wei Yi has the chance to finally place his knight on a strong square.
Wei Yi's decision to offer a knight trade on the kingside doesn't look to favor him, as that is going to open up the rooks for Sindarov. Plus, Sindarov has a lot of space on the queenside.
Sindarov wants to force a rook trade, in order to begin creating threats against Wei Yi's queenside.
Wei Yi chooses to keep both rooks on the board, in order to cover the first rank. But long term it could be a bit dangerous for Wei Yi, as Sindarov can use his two rooks to pressure the base of Wei Yi's queenside pawn chain.
Wei Yi cuts out any maneuvering of the bishop from Sindarov.
Sindarov keeps tabs on his weak pawn, while also pressuring Wei Yi's own on the right hand side.
Sindarov may wish to keep pushing from here, given his piece pressure and more time on the clock. But Wei Yi's position looks extremely solid.
Wei Yi hints at a pawn break, that would liberate his position.
Complete chaos!
So hard to judge this position from a human perspective. The computer is flashing complete equality, but this one could go any way. There's no longer a solid positional character as before!
Wei Yi has a great chance here to maneuver his queen towards an excellent diagonal, or even towards the center from where she would play along two important diagonals.
This is super messy for Wei Yi to defend against with little time on the clock!!
Wei Yi is down to just one move to hold the draw!! And it's not at all easy to understand why this move holds. Wei Yi could be about to lose!!
Wei Yi unable to find the only move to defend, and now Sindarov is invading to decisive effect!!
There's no way for Wei Yi to hang onto his rook. Incredibly, this is the end of the World Cup and it's going to be the 19-year old who emerges victorious!
Congratulations to the 19-year old grandmaster from Uzbekistan, who emerges as the champion after almost 4 weeks of grueling play!
The unforgiving knock-out format rewards consistency, nerves, and endurance. And these are the attributes that the two elite finalists, Wei Yi and Javokhir Sindarov, showed in spades throughout the tournament.
However, the one ingredient that was perhaps missing from Wei Yi's repertoire, was a willingness to take risks in order to hunt for the full point at critical junctures.
And it was precisely this element that set the two fighters apart. In a fitting end to the drama, Wei Yi kept looking to guide this second game of rapid towards a draw. But though the position may have been equal, Javokhir Sindarov wanted to impose his will at all costs.
He kept trying to create chances, and even took some risks that could have backfired and cost him the full point. But it was Wei Yi's nerves that failed first, and as the Chinese player found himself down to just seconds, he was unable to hold the balance in a position that the Uzbek grandmaster made as chaotic as possible.
Congratulations to the Uzbek grandmaster, who adds another feather to his cap. This will be a huge confidence boost for him, as he begins his preparations for the upcoming Candidates tournament, scheduled for March of 2026.
From all of us at Take Take Take, we hope that you've enjoyed everything this tournament has had to offer, and see you next time!
After dodging a bullet in the first game of the day, the Chinese number 1 finds himself with a great opportunity to kill the match off.
He's got the White pieces, and may see this as the best moment to try to crank up the heat with a sharp opening line, as he searches for a win that would kill the match on the spot and secure gold at the 2025 FIDE World Cup.
So far, Sindarov has looked very solid from the Black side, with very few players able to trouble him even a little bit. That has included Wei Yi, who did not even try to challenge him in their second classical game, opting instead to force a draw right out of the gates.
Will this be the final game of the tournament? Or will we be moving on to a second set of faster rapid games?!
Kick-off shortly!