Sindarov compared to Carlsen: Hikaru Nakamura’s five-year-old tweet now looks prophetic

Uzbekistan Grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov has become the center of attention in chess after winning the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026. The young star’s rapid rise has reminded many of past greats and one such comparison was made by Hikaru Nakamura five years ago.

Back in 2021, Nakamura took to social media after watching Sindarov’s performance against Alireza Firouzja in the FIDE World Cup 2021. He wrote that Sindarov’s play reminded him of Carlsen’s famous match against Levon Aronian in 2004.

Sindarov compared to Carlsen

At that time, Sindarov was just 15 years old and ranked as the 121st in the world. Despite that, he pulled off a huge upset by defeating Firouzja, who was one of the top contenders in that event.

After both players drew their classical games, Sindarov held his nerve and won in the tiebreaks, knocking out the higher-rated opponent.

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It was a performance that caught everyone’s attention and made Sindarov an overnight sensation. Back then, Nakamura saw similarities between the Uzbek GM and Carlsen.

The match that Nakamura is talking about took place in 2004 when a 13-year-old Carlsen faced Aronian in the FIDE World Chess Championship.

Although Carlsen lost that match, he showed great fighting spirit against a much stronger and experienced opponent, which is why Nakamura made the comparison. Nakamura called it the World Cup because the tournament was played in a knockout format. During that time, FIDE experimented with this format for the World Championship before later returning to the traditional challenger vs champion system.

Sindarov to challenge D Gukesh

Sindarov recently won the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026, earning the right to challenge India's D Gukesh for the World Chess Championship title later this year. He had also won the FIDE World Cup in Goa the previous year, proving that his rise is not a fluke.

Meanwhile, there will be another Indian in the fray at the world championships with R Vaishali securing a spot by winning the FIDE Women's Candidates 2026. She became the first Indian woman to win the Candidates and will challenge China's Ju Wenjun for the world title.