Vincent Keymer
German chess grandmaster (born 2004)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vincent Keymer (born 15 November 2004) is a German chess grandmaster.[1][2] He is currently the 4th highest rated player in the world with an Elo of 2776.[3] He was the No.1 in the FIDE World Chess Ratings for Juniors in January 2024.[4]
Keymer in 2025 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 November 2004 Mainz, Germany |
| Chess career | |
| Country | Germany |
| Title | Grandmaster (2020) |
| FIDE rating | 2776 (March 2026) |
| Peak rating | 2776 (December 2025) |
| Ranking | No. 4 (March 2026) |
| Peak ranking | No. 4 (November 2025) |
Chess career
Beginnings
Vincent Keymer was born in Mainz, Germany, a city that has a long history of hosting rapid tournaments and Chess960 tournaments.[5][6] He learned chess from his parents at the age of five.[7] In 2015 and 2017 he became European champion with the German U18 national chess team.[8][9]
When he was ten, Keymer was on the September 2015 cover of the German chess magazine Schach Magazin, hailed as Germany's greatest talent since Emanuel Lasker.[10] Garry Kasparov in 2016 referred to Keymer as "exceptional", and Keymer at 11 demonstrated his potential with an "impressive second prize" in a strong field in the Vienna Open tournament.[11]
In July 2017, Keymer obtained the third and final norm required for the title of International Master.
He has been coached by Peter Leko of Hungary, who was himself once considered "the world's most promising prodigy".[6]
From 29 March to 2 April 2018, Keymer played in the A group of the Grenke Chess Open as 99th seed. He won the tournament ahead of 49 grandmasters, including four grandmasters with Elo ratings above 2700, scoring 8/9 and achieving his first norm for the title of Grandmaster at age 13.[12][6][13][14][15] He earned one-and-a-half more points than required for the GM norm.[16] Leonard Barden noted that Keymer's performance rating (2798) was the highest in history by an under-14 player,[17] and The Week in Chess said Keymer's performance was "one of the most sensational results of all time."[15]
From 10 October through 21 October 2019, Keymer played in the 2019 FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament, scoring 4½/11 (+1−3=7).[18][19] This performance earned him his third and final norm required for the title of Grandmaster, making him the youngest German ever to achieve this feat. This title was approved by FIDE in early 2020.[1] Keymer said in an interview with Fiona Steil-Antoni that his third grandmaster norm "should have come sooner".[2]
Keymer finished in fifth place in the 2021 FIDE Grand Swiss tournament.[20]
2022
Through February and March 2022, Keymer played in the FIDE Grand Prix 2022. In the first leg, he placed fourth in Pool C with a 1.5/6 result. In the third leg, he tied for first with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in Pool B with a result of 3.5/6, eventually losing 1/4 in rapid and blitz tiebreakers. He tied for 16th in the standings with 4 points.
In June 2022, Keymer won the Prague Chess Festival Challengers with a result of 6.5/9 after winning the playoffs against Hans Niemann, thus qualifying for the tournament's Masters section next year.
He finished the World Rapid Chess Championship 2022 as runner-up after defeating Caruana and Nepomniachtchi, scoring 9.5/13 points.[21]
2024
In February 2024, won the Chessable Masters Division II, part of that year's Champions Chess Tour. In August, he won the Akiba Rubinstein Festival.
He worked as part of Gukesh Dommaraju's team of seconds for the World Chess Championship 2024, helping Gukesh win the match against Ding Liren.[22]
2025
In February 2025, he won the Weissenhaus Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, the first leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour, after defeating Magnus Carlsen in the semifinals and Fabiano Caruana in the final match.[23]
In May 2025, he won the German Championship for the first time in his career.[24]
In July 2025, Keymer participated in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Las Vegas. In his group stage, Keymer came in 7th out of 8th, with a score of 3/7, missing out on the top four requirement to advance to the Winners Bracket of the Knockout stage.[25] In the Losers Bracket Knockout stage, Keymer eliminated Ray Robson in round 1 before being eliminated himself by Praggnanandhaa in the Quarter Finals, leaving Keymer to come in joint 9-12th place overall.[26]
In August 2025, he won the Chennai Grand Masters with one round to spare, ahead of Anish Giri and Arjun Erigaisi. He also climbed into the World's Top Ten in live ratings for the first time.[27]
In September 2025, he almost qualified for the Candidates Tournament 2026 after achieving an winning endgame against a fellow countryman, Matthias Blübaum, in the second to last round of the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2025. However, after allowing a drawing motif, the game ended in a draw.[28] Keymer finished in 4th place with a score of 7.5/11, missing out on both 2nd place and a candidates spot after ARO(Average Rating of Opponents) tiebreaks.[29]
In early December 2026 Keymer participated in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Final in Cape Town, South Africa. In the group stage, Keymer finished 7th out of 8th, and was chosen by Arjun Erigaisi to be his opponent in the quarterfinals. During their quarter final match Keymer beat Erigaisi 1.5-0.5 and advanced to the semifinals. Keymer lost to Levon Aronian 3-1 in the semifinals, but successfully defeated Javokhir Sindarov 2-0 to claim a 3rd place finish. [30]
In late December 2025 Keymer participated in both the 2025 FIDE World Rapid Chess Championship and the 2025 FIDE World Blitz Chess Championship. Keymer finished in 50th place in the World Rapid Championship with a score of 8/13.[31] During the Open Swiss portion of the World Blitz Championship he finished in 39th with a score 12/19,[32] and did not qualify for the finals.
2026
Beginning in January and ending in February 2026, Keymer participated in the 2026 edition of the Tata Steel Chess tournament. Keymer finished in a three way tie for 3rd place, with a score of 7.5/13, but came officially came in 5th place after Sonneborn-Berger tiebreaks.[33]
In mid February 2026 Keymer participated in the first edition of the FIDE Freestyle World Chess Championship. Keymer came 2nd in the Round-Robin phase with a score of 4/7[34], thus advancing to the knockout stage. Fabiano Caruana beat Keymer 2.5-1.5 in the Semifinals[35]. In the match for 3rd place, Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Keymer 2.5-1.5, leaving Keymer with a 4th place finish.[36]
Personal life
Keymer comes from a musical family. He plays the piano. His father, Christof Keymer, is a concert pianist and a professor of music at Leibniz University Hannover; his mother, Heike, plays the cello in an orchestra.[37]
