Vincent Keymer (Photo Freestyle Chess)
Vincent Keymer won the Freestyle Open A at the grenke Chess Festival and secured his spot at the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship nest year.
The German grandmaster finished level on 7.5/9 with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave but secured first place on tiebreak. His score of six wins and three draws, without a loss, proved sufficient. The victory brings €60,000 in prize money and qualification for the World Championship.
In the women’s race, Harika Dronavalli of India, Alua Nurman of Kazakhstan, and Dinara Wagner of Germany secured the three qualification spots for the 2027 championship.
All three finished on 6 points, ahead of a tightly packed group of eight players on 5.5. The margins remained minimal until the final round, with no player able to separate early.
Former world champions Alexandra Kosteniuk and Mariya Muzychuk, who had led the field before the final round, fell short in the end.
The Freestyle events in Karlsruhe featured 577 players in total, with 310 in Open A, 203 in Open B, and 64 in Open C. At the top of the Freestyle Chess Open A, seven players finished half a point behind the two leaders – Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexey Sarana, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Leon Luke Mendonca, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Aryan Chopra.
Keymer, who started the day as the sole leader, was caught by Vachier-Lagrave in round 8. The German had built a winning position against Sarana.
With little time remaining, he failed to find a forced mate. The game slipped into a draw. Carlsen’s coach Peter Heine Nielsen later described it as “a masterpiece, spoiled in the end, but a very impressive game.”
At the same time, Vachier-Lagrave won, drawing level and shifting the pressure onto Keymer.
Carlsen stayed within reach but never dictated the tournament like he did a year ago.
After his demanding draw against Keymer in Round 7, he described the conditions: “One million degrees in the playing hall. I didn’t feel like having enough oxygen getting to my head at all.”
Despite the lack of oxygen, Carlsen won in round 8 and remained in contention going into the final round. But in round 9, Chopra defended bravely and earned himself a draw against the Freestyle Chess World Champion.
Round 9 saw Keymer and Vachier-Lagrave meet on the top board. The game ended after nine moves. Both players understood the tiebreak implications, but Vachier-Lagrave felt the position had already fizzled out.
“It was time to call it a day,” he said. Keymer, still affected by the missed opportunity in the previous round, accepted gladly. He knew he would most likely be ahead on tiebreaks.
