BS News Agency: GM Javokhir Sindarov won the second Clutch Chess Championship by scoring 20.5 points. The best game of the competition was by defeating GM Hikaru Nakamura. Indian GM Praggnanandh Rameshbabu finished second, GM Fabiano Caruana third, Nakamura fourth. After becoming the champion, he challenged the current world champion Indian Gukesh Dommaraju in the last tournament before the World Championship in 2026.
At the beginning of the day, Sindarov and Caruana were 2.5 points behind Praggnanandh. But each win was worth three points. After becoming the champion, Sindarov joked that after waking up in the morning, he checked social media and saw that commentators wanted to see him as the champion. This gives him extra motivation to win games. While Sindarov won the match well, Praggnanandha could not show his best game in the final match against Caruana.
In the first mini-match of the head-to-head, Sindarov and Praggnanhad drew the first game. The Uzbek star won the second game. Sindarov then won the first game against Caruana. Even if he did not win the second game, a draw in the second mini-match with Nakamura was essential to win the championship.
Praggnanandha narrowly missed out on the chance to become the champion. He fought until the last game. Praggnanah said, “It is a bit disappointing. I had a chance to win the match against Fabi. Moreover, I lost the match against Sindarov through my own fault.” Praggnanandha and Caruana have left for Budapest to participate in the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot 2026, which will feature world number one chess GM Magnus Carlsen. Sindarov will focus on defeating Gukesh in preparation for the World Championship match. Nakamura will compete in the America's Cup and the Total Chess World Championship 2027.