Sindarov's Passed c-Pawn Beats Wei Yi at the Candidates

Photo: ChessKelly / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Black's pawns on c3 and f3 are both three steps from becoming a queen, and the black rook on e3 stands right behind them. White has only a rook to stop two runners.

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Final position, after 36...Rxe3. Black's pawns on c3 and f3 are both advanced and supported by the rook on e3. Wei Yi resigned.

Analyze this position in the full game

Wei Yi resigned here, with 54 seconds left on his clock. Javokhir Sindarov still had 44 minutes.

Wei Yi 0-1 Javokhir Sindarov FIDE Candidates Tournament 2026, Paphos, Cyprus · Round 6 White: Wei Yi (2754) · Black: Javokhir Sindarov (2745)

An early fight for the kingside

The game began with 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4, an opening that mixes ideas from the Vienna Game and the Bishop's Opening.

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Na5 5.a3 Nxc4 6.dxc4 Bc5 7.Nf3 d6 8.Qd3 Be6 9.Bg5 a5 10.Nd5 c6 11.Nxf6+ gxf6

Black took back toward the centre with the g-pawn. That opened the g-file for Black's rook, but it also left gaps around the black king. Our own Stockfish 17.1 run, at depth 20, called the game level.

A long think

12.Bh4 Rg8 13.O-O a4 14.b4 axb3 15.cxb3 Bg4 16.b4 Bxf3 17.Qxf3 Bd4 18.Bxf6

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Position after 18.Bxf6, with Black to move. White's bishop has taken the pawn on f6.

Analyze this position in the full game

Wei Yi spent about 47 minutes on 18.Bxf6. The move won a pawn, but our engine preferred 18.Ra2 and rated the position slightly better for Black afterwards. More importantly, the clock would matter later. After move 18 Wei Yi had 26 minutes left for 22 moves. Sindarov had more than an hour.

18...Qd7 19.Rad1 Qe6 20.h3 Qxc4

Black won the pawn back on c4.

The slow squeeze

21.Rd3 Qe6 22.Rfd1 Rg6 23.Bh4 Kf8 24.Qh5 Kg8 25.Kh1 c5 26.f4 exf4 27.Qf3 Re8 28.Bf2 Bxf2 29.Qxf2 Qxe4

Black now had two extra pawns, but White's rooks were active on the d-file. Our engine called it only slightly better for Black. It was still a fight.

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Position after 29...Qxe4, with White to move. White's rooks aim at the pawn on d6. The pawns on b4 and c5 face each other.

Analyze this position in the full game

Wei Yi had 6 minutes left. Our engine's choice was 30.bxc5, trading the b-pawn for the c-pawn. That kept the game close to level.

The trade that made a passed pawn

30.Rxd6 Rxd6 31.Rxd6 Qe3

White took on d6 and traded a pair of rooks. But the black pawn on c5 was still there. The black queen came to e3 and offered a queen trade.

32.Qf3 c4

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Position after 32...c4, with White to move. The black c-pawn has passed the white b-pawn. No white pawn can stop it now.

Analyze this position in the full game

Now the c-pawn was a passed pawn. The white pawn on b4 cannot capture it, because pawns only capture forward. Our engine rated Black about three pawns better.

Wei Yi's clock now read 98 seconds. The move 30.Rxd6 had already cost White a lot. The engine moved from about two thirds of a pawn for Black to about one and three quarter pawns, and from there it only grew.

33.Qg4+ Kf8 34.Rd1 c3 35.Qg5 f3 36.Qxe3 Rxe3

White had about a minute left. The queens came off, and two black passed pawns were on the third row. Wei Yi resigned.

What this game teaches

1. Long thinks cost you later. Spending about 47 minutes on one move left Wei Yi short of time for the rest of the game.

2. Watch out for passed pawns being created. 30.bxc5 would have removed Black's c-pawn. After 30.Rxd6, the c-pawn stayed and became a passed pawn.

3. Pawns only capture forward. Once the black c-pawn got past the white b-pawn, the b-pawn could never catch it.

4. Two passed pawns with a rook behind them are very hard to stop. In the final position, White's one rook cannot deal with both pawns.