Sindarov Joins Carlsen With Second Titled Tuesday Win Of 2026

Already a candidate for the World Championship, GM Javokhir Sindarov took steps toward the 2026 Esports World Cup as well on February 10, winning Titled Tuesday with a 10/11 score. Coming in the largest field since September (455), it was his second victory of the Titled Tuesday Winter Split, putting him fifth in the standings, as well as his second of 2026, making him the second multi-time winner of the year after GM Magnus Carlsen. GM Sam Sevian also made progress, finishing in sole second place on 9.5 points and moving into third in the split standings.

Broadcast

If you missed the Take Take Take broadcast with WFM Maud Rodsmoen and GM Eric Hansen, you can catch it below!

CCT Standings

Titled Tuesday’s role in the Champions Chess Tour (CCT) continues, with just two weeks left in the split that will determine Chess.com Global Championship qualifiers. The updated top 10 for the Winter Split is as follows:

Full Standings | Titled Tuesday Info | CCT Info | CCT Standings

Tournament Recap

GM Zhamsaran Tsydypov continues to play strong chess after solid showings in both Titled Tuesday and Freestyle Friday last week, and was the last perfect player in this week’s tournament as the only one of the five players who started on 5/5 to reach 6/6. His reward was to play Black against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, who lost two pawns but ended up defeating Tsydypov in the end anyway. Nepomniachtchi joined Sindarov and GM Jeffery Xiong in the lead on 6.5/7, but he wasn’t able to survive another rough-and-tumble game in the eighth round against Sindarov, who joined Xiong on 7.5 points entering the second break. GMs Tsydypov, Amin Tabatabaei, Andrey Esipenko (like Sindarov, a world championship candidate this year), and last week’s winner Maxime Vachier-Lagrave all had seven.

Missed pins were the story of round nine, as Tsypydov allowed a mate to Esipenko on one and both Xiong and Sindarov missed a free rook.

Sindarov and Xiong both miss a hanging rook! pic.twitter.com/YCaPuLI5uL

— Take Take Take (@TakeTakeTakeApp) February 10, 2026

It was Xiong who could have grabbed the material, but Sindarov won the game in a sudden turn at the end… with a rook pinned to checkmate helping.

Vachier-Lagrave, who also won in the ninth, played Sindarov in the 10th. Sindarov shut down Vachier-Lagrave’s repeat attempt with the best game of the tournament, including an exchange sacrifice. No one has won consecutive Titled Tuesdays since Carlsen—who did not play today—on September 9-16 of last year.

Nepomniachtchi, Sevian, and Theodorou, after defeating Esipenko, GM Dmitry Andreikin, and GM Vincent Keymer respectively in the tenth round, were a full point back of Sindarov. It was up to Theodorou to bring tiebreaks into the first-place calculation, but he and Sindarov played a quick draw, clinching the 20-year-old Uzbekistan player’s outright victory. Meanwhile, Sevian defeated Nepomniachtchi to win second place. The game got sharp almost from the outset, and while Nepomniachtchi twice had a winning position, he could not hold either one.

Third place is where tiebreaks went wild, with six players tied on nine points. Theodorou and Xiong took third and fourth, followed by GM Alexander Grischuk in fifth and 12-year-old IM Faustino Oro in his second straight top-six finish, while Vachier-Lagrave and GM Bogdan Daniel Deac missed out on paid spots (but still earned standings points). IM Meri Arabidze won the women’s prize.

February 10 Titled Tuesday | Final Standings (Top 20)

(Full final standings.)