Vincent Keymer has won the Freestyle Chess Open A at the grenke Chess Festival in Karlsruhe. The German grandmaster finished tied on points with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) but secured first place on tiebreak after a short draw in their direct encounter in Round 9.
Both players ended ahead of a chasing group led by world number one Magnus Carlsen. The Norwegian remained within reach throughout the final day but did not manage to overtake the leaders.
With this result, Keymer qualifies for the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2027 and earns €60,000 in prize money. He joins world champion Magnus Carlsen, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan), and Fabiano Caruana (USA), who had already secured their spots through the 2026 World Championship.
In the women’s race, Harika Dronavalli of India, Alua Nurman of Kazakhstan (pictured above), and Dinara Wagner of Germany claimed the three qualification spots for the FIDE Freestyle Chess Women’s World Championship 2027. All three finished on 6.0 points, ahead of a tightly packed group of eight players on 5.5, undescoring how close the race remained until the final round.
A full report will be available in the news section of Freestyle Chess website.
Photos: Freestyle Chess
Official website: https://www.freestyle-chess.com/