Gukesh plays down Sindarov's favourite tag, says he ‘wouldn’t draw too much’ from dominant Candidates run

Gukesh Dommaraju refused to label either himself or Javokhir Sindarov the favourite for their Fide World Championship showdown later this year, stating that his focus will be on bringing out his best form and producing his best performance "on the right day".

Sindarov emerged the challenger to the chess throne that has been occupied by Gukesh since December 2024 after winning the Candidates in dominant fashion in Cyprus last month. And going by their recent form, it would be easy to pick the Uzbekistani Grandmaster as the favourite for the mega showdown later this year.

Sindarov, after all, has won two major events in less than six months, having won the Fide World Cup in Goa in November last year. Gukesh, on the other hand, has been going through a lean run for nearly a year, producing underwhelming performances in major events such as the Grand Swiss and the World Cup as well as Tata Steel Chess earlier this year.

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The Indian GM, however, believes that current form will matter little when the two youngsters face off later this year, and it's how they perform under pressure in the biggest showdown in chess that will ultimately decide who reigns supreme in the sport for another two years.

"As usual, I don’t believe in favourites. Whoever goes to the match and gives their best on the given day will win. So my focus is on bringing myself as much as possible, bringing my best out there. And if it’s enough, it’s great. Otherwise, it’s something to improve on," Gukesh said in an interview with Grand Chess Tour on the sidelines of Super Rapid and Blitz Poland, the first event of the 2026 season.

Gukesh explains why Candidates is vastly different from World Championship

Sindarov had fired a warning to Gukesh after clinching the Candidates with a round to spare and ultimately winning the high-pressure tournament with a remarkable score of 10 out of 14, finishing 1.5 points ahead of Dutch GM Anish Giri.

Gukesh was all praise for the 20-year-old's "extremely dominant" performance in Cyprus, but maintained that he wouldn't draw too much from it, given competing at the Candidates is a vastly different experience from the World Championship.

"I was quite closely following both the Candidates. Especially the Open one, but also towards the end because Vaishali had a great chance, I was following the Women. It’s an extremely dominant score what Javokhir managed. And it’s very impressive, but I think these kind of round-robins and matches are a very different experience, so I wouldn’t draw too much from it.

"But obviously, he’s a great player who has shown great results in this year but also last year winning the World Cup. And also he’s very young, pretty much my same age. So it’ll be a very exciting match and I hope to give my best," the reigning world champion added.

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Gukesh had withdrawn from the Grand Chess Tour this year in order to focus on his title defence, resulting in Sindarov taking his spot.

The Indian GM, however, is competing at the opening event in Warsaw as a wildcard participant and will also be competing in SuperUnited Croatia in Zagreb, which is also a Rapid and Blitz event, later this summer.