Uzbek GM Javokhir Sindarov shared his thoughts on professional Counter-Strike. Sindarov says he couldn’t become a professional CS player, notes the difficulty of training, and describes his goals in the game.

Javokhir Sindarov

Javokhir Sindarov

Uzbek GM

“Playing internationally in both chess and Counter-Strike? No, that’s impossible.

I’ve seen how they play… For me, it’s truly impossible. I can play 10 hours on the computer — that’s fine for me, but actually training in Counter-Strike is very difficult. I’ve seen their training sessions, I’ve seen how they prepare.

It’s impossible for me to train like that because I simply love the game. I just want to beat my friends. That’s all I want from Counter-Strike — to be the best in the company of my friends.”

Counter-Strike is a team-based first-person shooter. Professionals play 8-10 matches daily, each lasting 40 minutes on average, according to statistics from faceit.com. The total hours played for elite players averages between 15,000 and 20,000 hours.

Credit: Michal Walusza / FIDE