Nodirbek Yakubbaev secured victory in his match against German chess player Alexander Donchenko during the classical games defeating his opponent with a score of 1.5:0.5.
Javokhir Sindarov claimed victory in a difficult match against Mexican Jose Martinez. As the classical games ended in a draw, the winner was determined in a rapid tie-break held on November 19. The players won one game each in the 15+10 format. In the 10+10 format Sindarov secured a draw with the black pieces and achieved a crucial victory with the white pieces. The final score was 3.5:2.5.
Because of these results, two of our compatriots-Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Yakubbaev-will compete against each other in the semifinals. This guarantees that at least one Uzbek chess player will reach the final, marking the first time in history that a representative of our country will participate in the 2026 Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship. If we also consider the match for 3rd place the probability of both chess players qualifying for the Candidates Tournament is very high.
Although the World Cup does not determine the World Champion, the chess players who take the first three places in the tournament qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Crown.
The semi-final matches will take place on November 21–22.
Semi-final pairings:
- Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) — Nodirbek Yakubbaev (Uzbekistan)
- Andrey Esipenko (Russia) — Wei Yi (China)
