Vincent Keymer made a career breakthrough this week when the 20-year-old German knocked out Magnus Carlsen at the Weissenhaus Grand Slam in the classical Freestyle format which the world No 1 now prefers. There was a lively running commentary on the game’s deciding stages on YouTube.
Keymer went on to defeat the US champion and world No 2, Fabiano Caruana, by 1.5-0.5 in the two-day final which ended on Friday afternoon, earning the first prize of $200,000. He called it “the greatest success of my career”. Carlsen beat Javokhir Sindarov 2-0 in the third-place match.
Keymer already had a near-miss against Carlsen in the 2023 World Cup, where he won their first game before being eliminated. He was Germany’s youngest GM at 14, and long before that he was a prodigy – as a pianist. His parents and sister are all musicians. Combining the two careers was never an option for him, unlike the Soviet Union’s Mark Taimanov, who for decades successfully alternated between piano concerts and top level international chess.
In a revealing and articulate interview last year with New in Chess, widely considered the world’s best chess magazine, Keymer said that he aims to combine a classical style with computer influenced exact play. Risk management is the key, to decide in which games to deviate from the objectively best variations so as to maximise the chance for a full point.
His career so far has developed more slowly than his rivals in India because he needed to pass all his school exams and achieve grades, while they have been effectively full-time chess professionals.
Meanwhile, Sindarov, who only qualified for the event via a long sequence of eliminators, was narrowly beaten 4-3 by Caruana in a seven-hour semi-final series, and took on Carlsen for third prize.
The Uzbek 19-year-old has ridden his luck on occasion, but has demonstrated a very sharp eye for tactical opportunities, notably when eliminating the world No 3, Hikaru Nakamura.
Gukesh Dommaraju has been a disappointment. India’s 18-year-old classical world champion has drawn most of his games, but by Thursday had failed to register a single win.
Gukesh normally comes to major tournaments with other Indian grandmasters, but here he is on his own. He and Carlsen are the only players who do not analyse the starting position for each game as a pair, in Gukesh’s case apparently because last year he took advice on the best move and lost quickly.
For Freestyle’s chief, Jan Henric Buettner, a critical statistic will be the number of online spectators on the official website, chess.com, or on other major chess sites. So far the numbers seem to be around 20,000, but there were 200,000 for a special exhibition match between the streamers Anna Cramling and Alexandra Botez.
The difficulty with watching Freestyle is that the opening stages, which for the participants are of major importance and define what follows, are hard to understand for the casual spectator, although the later play often transposes into familiar structures and patterns.
The Freestyle Grand Slam’s next event will be at Paris starting on 8 April, where the controversial Hans Niemann will take part as a wildcard competitor.
Back in England, two major events are scheduled during the next fortnight. The Wightlink Isle of Wight International on 18-23 February has a £4,000+ prize fund, opportunities for GM and IM title norms, and in-depth strength at the top, with 18 players rated above Fide 2400. It is still possible to enter.
The £5500+ British Rapidplay at Peterborough on 1-2 March has attracted over 150 entrants so far, and looks an interesting contest between the top four grandmasters and the rest of the field. The British champion, Gawain Jones, Ameet Ghasi, Nikita Vitiugov and Danny Gormally are all experienced and successful GMs. Vitiugov is especially interesting, since this will be the former Russian’s first open entry tournament since he transferred to England. Again, entries are still being accepted.
3959: 1 Qa7! wins Black’s queen since if 1…Qxa7 2 Rd8+ Rxd8 3 Rxd8 mate.
