Vincent Keymer
{{Short description|German chess grandmaster (born 2004)}}
{{Infobox chess player
|name = Vincent Keymer
|country = Germany
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|2004|11|15|df=y}}
|birth_place = Mainz, Germany
|death_date =
|death_place =
|title = Grandmaster (2020)
|worldchampion =
|peakrating = 2743 (January 2024)
|peakranking = No. 12 (January 2024)
|FideID = 12940690
|image= Vincent Keymer in 2025.jpg
|caption=Keymer in 2025
}}
Vincent Keymer (born 15 November 2004) is a German chess grandmaster.{{cite web|url=https://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=12940690|title=Keymer, Vincent FIDE Chess Profile|website=ratings.fide.com|accessdate=3 April 2020}}{{cite web|url=https://perlenvombodensee.de/2019/10/20/it-should-have-come-earlier-14-year-old-vincent-keymer-and-the-grandmaster-title|title="It should have come earlier": 14 year old Vincent Keymer and the Grandmaster title|website=perlenvombodensee.de|date=20 October 2019 |accessdate=22 October 2019}} He was the No.1 in the FIDE World Chess Ratings for Juniors in January 2024.{{cite web |url=https://ratings.fide.com/profile/12940690 |title=Keymer, Vincent |website=ratings.fide.com|accessdate=19 May 2024}}
Chess career
Vincent Keymer was born in Mainz, Germany, a city that has a long history of hosting rapid tournaments and Chess960 tournaments.{{Cite web |title=Vincent Keymer {{!}} Official Website |url=https://www.vincent-keymer.de/index.php?lang=en#vincent |access-date=2023-01-12 |website=www.vincent-keymer.de}}{{Cite web |last=Doggers (PeterDoggers) |first=Peter |title=13-Year-Old Keymer Wins Grenke Open Ahead Of 49 GMs |url=https://www.chess.com/news/view/grenke-mvl-joins-vitiugov-keymer-13-stuns-with-8-9-in-open |access-date=2023-01-12 |website=Chess.com |date=2 April 2018 |language=en-US}} He learned chess from his parents at the age of five.{{cite news|url=http://www.zeit.de/zeit-magazin/2016/47/vincent-keymer-schach-talent-deutschland |title=Ein kleiner König |newspaper=Die Zeit |publisher=zeit.de |date=24 November 2016 |accessdate=2017-12-05 |last1=Stock |first1=Ulrich }} In 2015 and 2017 he became European champion with the German U18 national chess team.{{cite web|title=Deutschland holt Gold bei der Jugend-Europameisterschaft|periodical=|publisher=Deutscher Schachbund|url=https://www.schachbund.de/news/deutschland-holt-gold-bei-der-jugend-europameisterschaft.html|url-status=|format=|access-date=2020-11-15|archive-url=|archive-date=|last=|date=20 July 2015|language=|pages=|quote=}}{{cite web|title=Deutschland ist U18-Mannschaftseuropameister|website=de.chessbase.com|publisher=|url=https://de.chessbase.com/post/deutschland-ist-u18-mannschaftseuropameister|url-status=|format=|access-date=2020-11-15|archive-url=|archive-date=|last=|date=24 August 2017|language=|pages=|quote=}}
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.[https://en.chessbase.com/post/chess-talent-vincent-meets-garry Friedel, Frederic. “Chess Talent: Vincent meets Garry”].ChessBase. October 23, 2015. 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.Barden, Leonard. "Youngsters peak earlier with computer aid in top nations’ prodigy battle". The Guardian. 26 August 2016.
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".
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.{{cite web|url=http://ergebnisse.grenkechessopen.de/3gco/a-open-fort.html?t=1522761742|title=Ergebnisse 3. GRENKE Chess Open|website=ergebnisse.grenkechessopen.de|accessdate=29 April 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://grenkechessopen.de/en/a-open|title=A-Open - GRENKE Chess Open|website=grenkechessopen.de|accessdate=29 April 2019|archive-date=23 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423215840/https://grenkechessopen.de/en/a-open|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=http://ergebnisse.grenkechessopen.de/3gco/a-open-rang.html?t=1522701575|title=Ergebnisse 3. GRENKE Chess Open|website=ergebnisse.grenkechessopen.de|accessdate=29 April 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://theweekinchess.com/|title=Home - The Week in Chess|website=theweekinchess.com|accessdate=29 April 2019}} He earned one-and-a-half more points than required for the GM norm.{{cite web|url=http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?pid=155740|title=The chess games of Vincent Keymer|website=www.chessgames.com|accessdate=29 April 2019}} Leonard Barden noted that Keymer's {{chessgloss|performance rating}} (2798) was the highest in history by an under-14 player,[https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/apr/06/schoolboy-vincent-keymer-wins-grenke-open Chess: Schoolboy Vincent Keymer secures shock triumph at Grenke Open] The Guardian and The Week in Chess said Keymer's performance was "one of the most sensational results of all time."
From 10 October through 21 October 2019, Keymer played in the 2019 FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament, scoring 4½/11 (+1−3=7).{{cite web|url=https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-tournaments/fide-grand-swiss-2019|title=FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss|website=chess24.com|accessdate=22 October 2019}}{{cite web |last=McGourty |first=Colin |url=https://chess24.com/en/read/news/wang-hao-wins-it-all-9-grand-swiss-conclusions |title=Wang Hao wins it all! 9 Grand Swiss conclusions |date=2019-10-22 |accessdate=2019-10-22 |website=Chess24.com}} 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. Keymer said in an interview with Fiona Steil-Antoni that his third grandmaster norm "should have come sooner".
Keymer finished in 5th place in the 2021 FIDE Grand Swiss tournament.{{cite web |title=Chess-Results Server Chess-results.com - 2021 FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss |url=http://chess-results.com/tnr587230.aspx?lan=1&art=1&rd=11&flag=30 |website=chess-results.com |access-date=7 November 2021}}
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 runner-up after beating Caruana and Nepomniachtchi, scoring 9.5/13 points.{{Cite web |last=Admin |date=2022-12-28 |title=Vincent Keymer runners-up in World Rapid Championship - Sport |url=https://newsingermany.com/vincent-keymer-runners-up-in-world-rapid-championship-sport/ |access-date=2022-12-28 |website=News in Germany |language=en-US}}
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.{{Cite web |date=2024-12-14 |title=We worked late into the night: Gukesh’s second Vincent Keymer reveals behind-the-scenes preparation that led to World Championship win |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/chess/gukesh-world-chess-championship-second-vincent-keymer-training-9724629/ |access-date=2025-03-14 |website=The Indian Express |language=en}}
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.{{Cite news |last=Barden |first=Leonard |date=2025-02-14 |title=Chess: Vincent Keymer knocks out Magnus Carlsen in Freestyle Grand Slam and finished first in the first event |url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/feb/14/chess-vincent-keymer-knocks-out-magnus-carlsen-in-freestyle-grand-slam |access-date=2025-02-14 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
Personal life
Vincent 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.{{Cite news |last=Wolfsgruber |first=Axel |date=2015-06-13 |title=Mama sagte, dafür sei ich noch zu jung |url=https://www.focus.de/familie/sport-mama-sagte-dafuer-sei-ich-noch-zu-jung_id_4745225.html |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20230602084631/https://www.focus.de/familie/sport-mama-sagte-dafuer-sei-ich-noch-zu-jung_id_4745225.html |archive-date=2023-06-02 |access-date=2025-04-09 |work=FOCUS online |language=de}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|url=https://www.vincent-keymer.de/index.php?lang=en}}
- {{FIDE}}
- {{Chess.com player|vincent-keymer}}
- {{Chessgames.com player|155740}}
- https://lichess.org/@/VincentKeymer2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Keymer, Vincent}}