Javokhir Sindarov wins FIDE's first-ever Best Male Chess Player award
The 20-year-old Uzbek grandmaster won the Best Chess Player — Male category at the inaugural FIDE Excellence Awards 2026; the prize was presented on September 27 in Samarkand.
Uzbekistan's grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov won the Best Chess Player — Male category at the inaugural FIDE Excellence Awards 2026. He received the award on September 27 in Samarkand, at the closing ceremony of the 46th Chess Olympiad.
The first recipient
The FIDE Excellence Awards were established this year and will be presented every two years. The award recognizes achievements over the Olympic cycle from September 2024 to August 2026. Sindarov is the first winner of the category.
Sindarov's achievements
In 2025 Sindarov won the FIDE World Cup, becoming the youngest champion in the tournament's history. In April 2026 he won the Candidates Tournament with a round to spare, earning the right to face Gukesh Dommaraju for the world championship title. Over this period his rating rose by about 100 points and he broke into the world's top four.
At the Samarkand Olympiad, Sindarov became a champion with Uzbekistan's team; on board two he scored 7 points in 10 games (five wins, four draws, one loss) and took the individual bronze with a 2797 performance rating. Nominees in the category also included Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Gukesh Dommaraju and Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
