Christian Glöckler crowns dominant performance with last-round win

by Johannes Fischer
2/2/2026 – Christian Glöckler delivered an impressive performance at the Qualifiers in Wijk and had already secured overall victory with one round to spare. In the ninth and final round of the tournament, he added another win. He outplayed Tim Grutter with remarkable ease and finished on 8.5 points from 9 games, with an Elo performance of 2851. In 2027, he will be eligible to play in the Challengers. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Your personal chess trainer. Your toughest opponent. Your strongest ally.
FRITZ 20 is more than just a chess engine – it is a training revolution for ambitious players and professionals. Whether you are taking your first steps into the world of serious chess training, or already playing at tournament level, FRITZ 20 will help you train more efficiently, intelligently and individually than ever before. 

After his convincing tournament victory, Fiona Steil-Antoni congratulated the 14-year-old and invited him for an interview.

With his convincing performance, Glöckler has qualified for the Challengers 2027 in Wijk, one of the most famous and prestigious tournaments in the world. At the same time, he has shown that he possesses GM strength, even though, as he revealed in the interview with Fiona Steil-Antoni, he has not yet achieved a GM norm.

Just how strong and composed he already plays was once again demonstrated by Glöckler in the final round of the Qualifiers.

Final standings 

Nr Player KNSB Fide Score SB TPR 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1 Gloeckler, Christian 2444 8.5 35.25 2851 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1
2 Tudor, Henry Edward 2434 7 25.25 2628 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 1
3 Lohia, Sohum 2410 5.5 19.5 2491 0 ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 ½ 1
3 Hrbek, Stepan 2454 5.5 18.25 2486 0 0 ½ 1 1 1 0 1 1
5 Elgersma, Onno 2366 2369 4 13.75 2373 0 0 1 0 ½ 0 1 1 ½
5 Grutter, Tim 2401 2399 4 11.25 2369 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 1
7 Carow, Johannes, Dr. 2469 3.5 9.5 2324 0 0 0 0 1 0 ½ 1 1
8 Beukema, Stefan 2413 2394 3 12.75 2288 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 ½ ½ ½
9 Van Foreest, Machteld 2343 2330 2.5 11.25 2254 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 ½ ½
10 Baselmans, Luuk 2395 2406 1.5 4.75 2138 0 0 0 0 ½ 0 0 ½ ½

Games

Links

<< Qualification paths for the FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship 2027
Topics: Christian Glöckler, Tata Steel Chess 2026
Johannes Fischer was born in 1963 in Hamburg and studied English and German literature in Frankfurt. He now lives as a writer and translator in Nürnberg. He is a FIDE-Master and regularly writes for KARL, a German chess magazine focusing on the links between culture and chess. On his own blog he regularly publishes notes on "Film, Literature and Chess".
Discussion and Feedback Submit your feedback to the editors

See also

Tata Steel Chess - Live!

2/1/2026 – The 88th edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament is taking place from 17 January to 1 February and once again features the traditional structure of parallel Masters and Challengers tournaments, each consisting of 14 players competing in a single round-robin. Nodirbek Abdusattorov enters the final round as the sole leader in the Masters, while Andy Woodward and Aydin Suleymanli are tied for first place in the Challengers. | Follow the games live with expert commentary starting at 12.00 CET (6.00 ET, 16.30 IST)
More...
 31

See also

Wijk aan Zee: A 360-degree look behind the scenes

1/26/2026 – The long-standing tournament in Wijk aan Zee offers a wealth of chess content, stories, images and interesting personalities. The following report takes a look behind the scenes, with background information and interviews. For example, you can meet the man behind the fantastic live experience on the Tata Steel Chess website, Menno Pals (pictured). | Photos: Nils Rhode / Interviews: André Schulz and Arne Kähler
More...
 8

Video

60m The Two Knights

This entry into the 60 minutes series concentrates on the Modern variation of the Italian game where White opens the centre early : 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 d4 exd4 5 e5!. This line can be reached by various move orders, most frequently from the Scotch 3 d4 exd4 4 Bc4. It's a sharp variation and Grandmasters such as Evgeny Sveshnikov have used it frequently,with very good results. It's a perfect line for club players to adopt which is relatively easy to learn and which contains many traps. All the main responses are covered here, including 5...d5, 5...Ng4 and 5...Ne4 and the conclusion is that is is difficult for Black to equalize in a straightforward way. Problems are being posed, which over the board might prove tough to solve.