Javohir Sindarov wins rapid and blitz events at Daniel Naroditskiy Memorial

Uzbek grandmaster Javohir Sindarov won the blitz event at the first Daniel Naroditskiy Memorial in the US.

His participation in international tournaments, preparation for competitions, and work with coaches are supported by the National Bank of Uzbekistan.

In the final, he scored 7.5 points out of 9, earning $6,000 in prize money. The Uzbek chess player outpaced American grandmaster Wesley So, who scored 7 points. Third place was taken by American Ethan Shi with 6 points.

The final stage of the blitz event was held among the top 10 participants of the Masters Blitz qualifying tournament. Sindarov entered the top 10 after the 11-round tournament and then played 9 games in the final with a time control of 3 minutes + 2 seconds per move.

The regulations provided for this format: the top 10 players of the Masters Blitz competition will advance to the Blitz Final on Sunday, where they will compete in a round-robin system.

A rare situation was also observed in the opening part of the blitz tournament: brothers Javohir and Islombek Sindarov met each other. This game also caught the attention of commentators - American grandmaster Fabiano Caruana was surprised by their mutual struggle. Javohir Sindarov won this meeting.

In the final, Sindarov achieved six victories and drew three games. He drew with another representative of Uzbekistan, Muhiddin Madaminov, and defeated Ethan Shi, Vasif Durarbayli, Sam Sevian, Andy Woodward, Semyon Khanin, and Boris Gelfand, as well as shared points with top grandmasters Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura.

According to the tournament table, Sindarov's performance in the blitz final was 2870, and his blitz rating increased by 20.7 points.

Earlier, Sindarov also won the rapid event at this memorial tournament. In the main part of the competition, he scored 6 points out of 7, after which he defeated Indian grandmaster Aravind Chithambaram 2:0 in the tie-break. The rapid tournament was held in a 7-round format with a time control of 10 minutes + 5 seconds per move. He received $3,000 in prize money for this victory.

The first Daniel Naroditskiy Memorial was held on July 3-5 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The tournament was dedicated to the memory of American grandmaster, commentator, and chess popularizer Daniel Naroditskiy. The event included rapid, blitz, and blitz final tournaments, as well as a tournament among chess streamers and authors.