Sinquefield Cup 2026: Keymer crumbles against Sindarov

By admin August 18, 2026 0 comments

Javokhir Sindarov scored the sole win against Vincent Keymer in Round 7 of Grand Chess Tour 2026 Sinquefield Cup.

Sindarov plays Benko Gambit

The remaining four games ending in draws meant, Wesley So (USA) is still in sole lead 4.5/7. He is closely followed by Fabiano Caruana (USA), R Praggnanandhaa and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) at 4/7 each.

Keymer – Sindarov: 0.5-0.5

The World Championship Challenger, Javokhir Sindarov (UZB, 2777) decided to surprise his opponent, Vincent Keymer (GER, 2767) by opting for the Benko Gambit with the black pieces. The game seemed to have heading towards a draw in the rook and opposite color bishop endgame. Once the rooks got traded, in a relatively balanced opposite color bishop endgame, Keymer made an unforced error.

Position after 46…f6

Almost everything is fine here for White except the move that was played in the game 47.h4?? Even 47.e5+ is also fine. 47…Ke5 48.hxg5 hxg5 49.Ke2 Kxe4 50.Bf3+ Kf5 and Black won the game in nine more moves.

Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) seized his opportunity against Vincent Keymer (GER) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Fabiano Caruana (USA) and R Praggnanandhaa played a well-contested draw | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Levon Aronian (USA) – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Jorden van Foreest (NED) – Sam Sevian (USA): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Crystal Fuller / Saint Louis Chess Club

Wesley So (USA) – Anish Giri (NED): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Grand Chess Tour

Replay live stream

Replay Round 7 live commentary by GMs Yasser Seirawan, Peter Svidler, Maurice Ashley and Cristian Chirila, and IMs Nazi Paikidze and Almira Skripchenko | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Replay Round 7 games

Schedule and Format

There will be one round per day from 10th to 19th August. Rest day is on 15th August. Round 1 starts at 12 p.m. local time, 10:30 p.m. IST. It will be a 10-player Round Robin event. Time control will be 40 moves in 90 minutes + 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment from move no.1.