LaviChess

Vincent Keymer

Seeded 99th and only 13 years old, Vincent Keymer won the 2018 Grenke Open ahead of 49 grandmasters. Seven years later the German grandmaster took his place in the world's top ten.

Vincent Keymer
Photo: Frans Peeters, 2025. CC BY-SA 2.0. Cropped and toned.
  • BornNovember 15, 2004, Mainz, Germany
  • CountryGermany
  • TitleGrandmaster 2020
  • Highest rating2776 (December 2025)
    FIDE's official lists (from July 1971)
  • In the rankingsShared No. 8 in the world, 2761
    FIDE's list, November 2026

The 2018 Grenke Open

At the 2018 Grenke Open in Karlsruhe Keymer scored 8 points out of 9. Behind him were 49 grandmasters, and nobody else reached 8 points. In 2020 he received the title himself, the youngest German yet.

Main results

Keymer's own results. At the Chess Olympiad, medals go both to the teams and to the best player on each board.
YearEventResult
2018Grenke Open
Karlsruhe		Winner
8 of 9 points
2022World Rapid Championship
Almaty		2nd place
9½ of 13 points
2025Freestyle Chess Grand Slam
Weissenhaus, Germany		Winner
2025Chennai Grand Masters
Chennai		Winner
2026Super Chess Classic Romania
Romania		Winner
2026Sinquefield Cup
St. Louis		Shared 3rd place
5 of 9 points
2026Chess Olympiad
Samarkand		Team bronze

World Rapid silver and a game against Carlsen

At the World Rapid Championship in Almaty in December 2022 Keymer came second with 9½ points out of 13, behind Magnus Carlsen. They met again in the fourth round of the 2023 World Cup. Keymer won the first game, but Carlsen won the match.

The wins of 2025 and 2026

In 2025 Keymer won the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam in Weissenhaus, a tournament of Chess960 with the starting position drawn by lot. That August he won the Chennai Grand Masters and reached the world's top ten for the first time.

In May 2026 he won the Super Chess Classic Romania. That same year he played first board for Germany, which won bronze at the Chess Olympiad in Samarkand.

Sources

  • FIDE: Keymer's rating history (ratings.fide.com, read 2026-11-09)
  • Chess.com: player page on Vincent Keymer
  • Wikipedia: Vincent Keymer
  • Chess.com and the Grenke Chess Open: the reports on the 2018 Grenke Open
  • FIDE: the reports on the 2022 World Rapid Championship, the 2026 Sinquefield Cup, and the 2026 Chess Olympiad
  • PGN Mentor: the games of the 2023 World Cup
  • Chess.com: the conclusions after the 2026 Chess Olympiad

The facts on this page come from the sources above, checked against each other. Where the sources disagree, only what they agree on is given.

Updated November 9, 2026