Gukesh speaks on 'doing something in heat of the moment' after beating Sindarov as celebration goes viral

Reigning world champion Dommaraju Gukesh threw an uncharacteristic punch in the air after beating Uzbek Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov, the challenger to his title, in their clash at the Grand Chess Tour: Super Rapid and Blitz Poland 2026 on Wednesday.

Sindarov was in stunning form at the recently held Fide Candidates, where he stormed to a one-sided victory with a string of wins early in the competition. His incredible form led many to believe that he will start as the favourite to win the World Chess Championship match, which will take place late this year.

However, Gukesh has now once again put out a reminder that he is the reigning world champion for a reason.

Gukesh explains fist pump celebrations

After the match vs Sindarov, the Indian Grandmaster said that the match was important for both players and his experience of already playing such games against the previous World Champion Ding Liren helped him.

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"I guess for both of us, I know also from the previous experience when I played Ding before the match, there's always something going on. It's a nice feeling," Gukesh said.

As for the fist pump, Gukesh smiled and added: "In the heat of the moment, I did something."

Gukesh is not known for showing his emotions on the chessboard, but the fact that he celebrated his win showed the value of a victory over Sindarov. The two will be up against each other, fighting for the world title later this year.

Playing with black pieces, Gukesh opted for a Caro-Kann defence and soon got a solid position for himself as Sindarov tried some unconventional moves. Gukesh grabbed a pawn in the middle game to gain an advantage and went on to win the match after 52 moves.

Thanks to the win in Round 5, Gukesh ended the day at the joint-fourth spot in the leaderboard while Sindarov had fallen to joint-eighth position.