Ian Nepomniachtchi

Russian GM

“Sindarov is playing the tournament well… That is, points were brought to him on a silver platter. By round six, unfortunately, any tournament intrigue was lost. That is quite disappointing to me.

Of course, I would have liked to see a fighting tournament with unexpected results, but in fact, after six rounds it was clear how it would end. When someone starts with 5.5/6, only a prayer can help at that point, hardly anything else…

Congratulations to Sindarov. He had a tough time in this tournament, of course. He had to wait from round six onward for the tournament to finally end…

Javokhir is great. That is, of course, an absolutely outstanding result. This ‘+6’ — is like Topalov in his best years. I thought he would play well, but probably would not take first place.

It feels like no one specifically prepared for the tournament. Sindarov had many one-time preps, and most of them worked, which is the funniest part.”