There have been no chess golf equipment in Saulheim, a German village with a inhabitants of 8,000, close to Mainz. So Vincent Keymer travelled to a close by village to play chess. Though born into a musical household, his extraordinary expertise in chess didn’t go unnoticed. Among these he impressed was the legendary former World champion Garry Kasparov. Keymer is now one of many world’s most enjoyable gamers and is taken into account Germany’s best chess hope since Emanuel Lasker, who was the World champion from 1894 to 1921. Excerpts from Keymer’s interview with The Hindu:
One of the highlights of your profession should have been the 2023 World Cup at Baku. You reached the fourth spherical, the place you shocked Magnus Carlsen within the first classical recreation and practically knocked him out of the match.
Yes, it was for me a very attention-grabbing expertise, simply form of understanding that I used to be mainly one transfer away from knocking him out. Just getting the chance was nice and additionally having the tiebreak going to the fifth recreation. Of course, I might have beloved to win that match after he gave me this unimaginable chance.
How was it enjoying a match against Carlsen, probably the strongest participant of all time?
You get to be taught a lot. He is just not the participant who provides you a lot of probabilities, so that’s not precisely essentially the most pleasing factor.
And if you give him a chance, he will destroy you.
Yeah, that’s the factor with Carlsen. You mainly rarely get the chance and if he gets one, you are just about lifeless. But, yeah, that’s what makes him so sturdy and additionally the rationale why I had hassle within the tiebreaker. In this primary classical recreation of the match, it was a practically drawn place and then he made one enormous mistake. Just not shedding the second recreation was the deal for me, however it’s all the time powerful against Magnus.
Your ideas on the best way R. Praggnanandhaa performed in that World Cup, to go all the best way to the ultimate, which he misplaced to Carlsen?
It absolutely was wonderful. He had this extremely shut match with Arjun [Erigaisi], the place I assumed he was already mainly knocked out after the primary recreation, and then additionally within the tiebreaks. When I used to be enjoying Magnus, he was enjoying Hikaru [Nakamura]. We have been on the identical stage. He benefited from Hikaru making this enormous mistake within the first fast recreation, simply mixing up the transfer order. But then, I don’t suppose anybody can pull off such a nice efficiency with out some form of luck or assist.
Praggnanandhaa is barely one of many a number of massively proficient gamers out of your era. There are children like Alireza Firouzja, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, D. Gukesh, Arjun and Nihal Sarin. You had drawn with Gukesh within the ultimate spherical of the Chess Olympiad in Chennai in 2022. He was sensational in that match…
That efficiency by Gukesh was among the finest performances I’ve ever come throughout in a sturdy occasion just like the Olympiad. I used to be glad with my particular person efficiency in Chennai although I might have appreciated Germany to do higher. And sure, it’s good being a part of a era with so many younger abilities. It feels good that there’s some actual competitors. I’ve heard there was this image from 2014 from the Under-10 World Championship — Praggnanandhaa, Nihal, Abdusattorov and me in the identical image.
How do you look again at your exceptional efficiency on the Grenke match in Germany in 2018. You weren’t a Grandmaster then however you completed forward of 49 of them, together with 4 with a ranking of greater than 2700. And you have been solely 13.
I believe it was the largest open match in Europe at the moment. And it had sturdy gamers like Richard Rapport, Alexei Shirov and Anton Korobov, they have been the highest seeds.
And you had a ranking efficiency of near 2800.
Yes, 2798. It was absolutely one thing nobody anticipated. As for me, even earlier than the final day, earlier than the final rounds, I used to be considering extra about getting the half-a-point I wanted to make my GM norm. The match helped me grow to be identified, even exterior Germany.
In the final spherical, I used to be on the stage along with Magnus, as a result of they have been beginning the second spherical of the day similtaneously the Classic. That already was one thing very particular for me, enjoying on the identical stage [as] the legends of the sport; I used to be 13, so this absolutely was very spectacular for me.
But a yr later you performed within the Grenke Classic, which featured the likes of Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Levon Aronian and Viswanathan Anand.
It was a tremendous alternative for me; I received it by successful the Grenke Open. And it was nice enjoying against all of them.
Fulfilling journey: Although he isn’t from a chess-playing household and needed to journey to a close by village to search out a chess membership, Keymer has rapidly developed into a high prospect. | Photo credit score: Debasish Bhaduri
I learn someplace that you stumbled upon chess items in your home and that’s how you began enjoying the sport…
I’m not from a chess-playing household. As a little one I discovered a chessboard and requested my mother and father what it was. My mother and father knew the principles, you know, make strikes. And I believe I should have appreciated it. I don’t recall precisely, however I imply, I began going to the native membership and enjoying against some guys. Since there have been no chess golf equipment in my village, I needed to go to a different village, some 15 or 20 km away. I did fairly nicely on the membership and additionally performed my very first regional occasions, the place I additionally did nicely.
Fierce focus: Keymer balanced faculty and a skilled profession for a ‘couple of years’, one thing he says was ‘always kind of difficult’. He is now trying ahead to bettering as he devotes all his consideration to the sport. | Photo credit score: Debasish Bhaduri
What are your ambitions in chess?
I’ve been a skilled for a couple of years now. I used to go to high school the entire time, which was all the time form of troublesome. Now I’m trying ahead to bettering and, nicely, most definitely getting as excessive as doable.
