16-year-old grandmaster makes his debut in Dortmund in 2021
Vincent Keymer is a household name on the German chess scene: International Master at the age of less than 13 in 2017, since then a regular player in the 1st Bundesliga for SF Deizisau. In 2019 Keymer won the open Grenke Chess Classic with an outstanding Elo performance of 2795 and has been able to call himself Grandmaster since February 2020. Now he is scratching the 2600 Elo mark, although the pandemic hardly lets him play rated games. All the more reason for him to look forward to finally meeting top national and international grandmasters at the chessboard again in the "Germany Grand Prix" in July.
Vincent Keymer 2019 | Picture: Georgios Souleidis
What do you personally expect from the 2021 Grandmaster tournament?
I'm looking forward to a strong round robin, especially after the many weeks and months of lockdown without tournaments on the board.
How do you prepare for such a strong round robin tournament?
It depends a bit on what other appointments I will have until then. I hope that after the draw is announced I'll find the time to look at how my opponents play. Otherwise, it's business as usual.
What are your goals in general for 2021?
Just to play chess again, at the board!