Fabiano Caruana Predicts 'Close Match' In World Championship: Picks Between D Gukesh Vs Javokhir Sindarov

Last Updated:April 23, 2026, 10:20 IST

Fabiano Caruana expects a close World Chess Championship between Gukesh and Sindarov, slightly favoring Sindarov while warning against underestimating Gukesh

American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana has weighed in on the highly anticipated World Chess Championship clash between Dommaraju Gukesh and Javokhir Sindarov, cautioning against underestimating the young Indian despite his recent dip in form.

Sindarov secured his place in the title match with a commanding victory at the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026 in Cyprus, establishing himself as one of the most in-form players on the circuit. His dominant run has led several experts, including world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, to back him as the favourite, citing his current consistency and overall balance.

Gukesh Can’t Be Written Off

Caruana, however, believes this narrative may be overly one-sided. Speaking on the C-Squared podcast, he stressed that D Gukesh has already demonstrated resilience at the highest level and should not be written off so quickly.

“It’s very easy to just say Sindarov is going to win, but Gukesh has had tournaments like this — the Olympiad, the Candidates, he’s won tournaments! Do we really assume that a 19-year-old is just done? Like he had a bad period and he’s just finished? I see no reason why Gukesh cannot recover and then the question is, ‘Is Sindarov going to be in as good form as here?’ If he is, then yeah, probably nobody’s stopping him," Caruana said.

He went on to predict a tightly contested battle, highlighting Gukesh’s experience and preparation as key factors. “So I’m predicting a close match, actually pretty close to balanced. Gukesh also has experience, he’ll prepare, he’ll think about his approach. If he doesn’t get too unconfident… It’ll be good for him to have some good results at some point, that’ll give him some confidence. We’ll see Sindarov’s form in the Grand Chess Tour, since he’s playing that. It’s very ironic that he replaced Gukesh in the Grand Chess Tour. I don’t know if it was a good decision by Gukesh, but we’ll see. Prediction is slight money on Sindarov, maybe 55-45," he added.

News sports chess Fabiano Caruana Predicts 'Close Match' In World Championship: Picks Between D Gukesh Vs Javokhir Sindarov

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