By Julien Pretot
PARIS, April 8 (Reuters) – Javokhir Sindarov played down fears that his chess opening preparation had been exposed after an online account linked to him briefly left studies public, but the episode — coupled with a separate incident in Hikaru Nakamura’s camp — has thrown a light on the role of “seconds” at the Candidates tournament.
The 20-year-old Uzbek, who has a two-point lead in the tournament in Cyprus that decides who will challenge world champion Dommaraju Gukesh for his title, drew in 24 moves with Andrey Esipenko in round eight.
He then faced repeated questions about the apparent leak, which surfaced on social media before the files were swiftly made private.
Sindarov was unfazed.
“It was not a big deal because I don’t remember the last time I opened those studies,” he said, adding that the lines were outdated and no longer part of his active preparation.
In elite chess, where preparation is closely guarded and even the identity of players’ seconds – other strong players and analysts who help them prepare for key tournaments – is often concealed, such exposure can undermine months’ worth of work.
Sindarov’s relaxed response belied the nowadays central role of seconds, where teams build complex opening files of moves aimed at steering games into favourable territory.
Their importance was underscored earlier in the tournament when Hikaru Nakamura publicly vented frustration at his own team for failing to flag a critical idea in his game against Sindarov — a miss that proved costly and highlighted how even small oversights in preparation can have immediate consequences.
British grandmaster and commentator David Howell said Sindarov’s reaction stood out.
“I would be freaking out and a bit tilted if this had happened to me,” he said. “He played with a nice calm smile on his face — and that’s a skill in itself.”
Preparation leaks are rare but not unprecedented.
During the 2018 world championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana, a video briefly posted online revealed some of Caruana’s opening ideas before being deleted.
A similar case emerged in 2023, when games played on anonymous accounts believed to belong to Ding Liren and grandmaster Richard Rapport, a member of his team, appeared to foreshadow lines Ding later used against Ian Nepomniachtchi on his way to becoming world champion.
Sindarov suggested he had been alerted to the issue during last year’s World Cup, which he won to qualify for the Candidates.
“I was getting messages from fans telling me that my studies on Lichess were not private,” he said.
With a score of 6.5/8, Sindarov is in the driving seat to win the Candidates and face Gukesh later this year for the title.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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