Keymer dominates open championship

Vincent Keymer, widely recognised as Germany's top player and the youngest grandmaster in the country's history, secured his maiden national title in convincing fashion. Displaying consistent form and focused play throughout the event, Keymer led the tournament from the outset.

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He opened the championship with an impressive 6½ points from the first 7 rounds, establishing a two-point lead with only two games remaining. This commanding advantage made his title virtually certain, and he formally clinched first place with a composed draw against Rasmus Svane in round eight.

Although the title had already been decided before the final round, Keymer faced Alexander Donchenko in a game that turned combative. Playing with the white pieces, Keymer missed several promising opportunities and ultimately suffered his only loss of the tournament. Nevertheless, this defeat did not affect his overall standing.

Matthias Blübaum finished as the runner-up, having drawn his final game quickly against Rasmus Svane. The fourth-place position was taken by Frederik Svane, who drew a lengthy game against Leonardo Costa, culminating with only kings remaining on the board. Despite finishing outside the top positions, Costa achieved a significant milestone by scoring 4½/9, which was sufficient for a grandmaster norm.

Dennis Wagner climbed to third place in the final ranking with a victory over Marco Dobrikov in the ninth and final round.

Keymer 1-0 Bluebam (round 7)

Analysis by Johannes Fischer

Keymer, Vincent2718

1–0

Bluebaum, Matthias2662

96th German-ch Meister 2025 Munich21.05.2025[Johannes Fischer]

1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.g3 Bg4 5.Ne5 Bf5 6.Qb3 Qb6 7.cxd5 Qxb3 8.axb3 Nxd5 9.Bd2 e6 10.Bg2 Nb4 In the post-game interview, Keymer said that here Bluebaum had mixed up his move order. According to Keymer, Black should have played 10...f6 first. That leads to 11.Nc4 Nb4 12.0-0 N8a6 resulting in an approximately equal position. 11.0-0 f6 12.e4!?

White would not have had this possibility after 10...f6. 12...fxe5 13.exf5 Nc2?! Better was 13...exf5 14.dxe5 N8a6 15.Na3 with a slight advantage for White. 14.Ra5 Nxd4 15.Rxe5 Nd7 16.Re4 Nxf5 17.Rxe6+ Kf7 18.Re4 White has the bishop pair and more active play. In addition, Black is not yet fully developed. Nf6 19.Rf4 Kg6 20.Bh3 Nh6 21.Re1 Bd6 22.Rf3 Rhe8

23.Be6 After the game, Keymer criticised this move as "overambitious". But Black reacts inaccurately and quickly ends up in a losing position. Nfg4 But 24.h4 keeps the balance and prepares a surprising mating attack. Ne5?

A mistake that costs material. As Keymer pointed out after the game, Black should have played 24...Rad8 instead. Then the game could have ended quickly and beautifully in a draw, with a perpetual check motif that, according to Keymer, "he had never seen before": 25.Nc3 Ne5 26.Rxe5 Bxe5 27.g4 Rxd2 28.h5+ Kg5 29.Ne4+ Kh4 30.Rh3+! Kxh3 31.Ng5+ Kh4 32.Nf3+ 25.Rxe5! Bxe5 26.g4 Suddenly, the black king is facing mate, and Black must give up material to prevent it. Bf4 27.Rxf4 Rxe6 28.h5+ Kg5 29.Rf8+ Kxg4 30.Rxa8 The black king has escaped mate, but White is a full piece up and clearly winning. Nf5 31.Rxa7 Re7 32.h6 g5 33.Ra4+ Kh5 34.Nc3 Nxh6 35.Ne4 Nf7 36.Rd4 Kg6 37.Kg2 h5 38.Bb4 Re5 39.Bc3 Re7 40.Nd6 Ne5 41.Re4 Black is about to lose more material and resigned. 1–0

Final standings

All games

Wagner beats Klek in rapid playoffs

The women's section proved considerably more competitive, with the title undecided until the final tiebreaks. Dinara Wagner and Hanna Marie Klek entered the last round as joint leaders on 6 points each.

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Klek, playing with black against Jana Schneider, was under pressure from the outset but held the draw after Schneider opted for a repetition despite an advantageous position. This outcome left the door open for Wagner to win the title outright. Wagner reached a clearly better position in her game, nearly achieving a decisive advantage, but was unable to convert, resulting in a draw as well.

With both players tied on 6½ points, the championship was determined by a playoff. Two rapid games were played with a time control of 10 minutes plus 5 seconds increment. Wagner won both games, securing the 2025 German Women's Championship title without the need for additional blitz tiebreaks.

Hanna Marie Klek finished second, while Kateryna Dolzhykova claimed third place.

Dinara Wagner | Photo: Frank Binding

Klek 0-1 Wagner (round 1)

Analysis by Johannes Fischer

Klek, Hanna Marie2296

0–1

Wagner, Dinara2435

German-ch Women Meister 2025 Munich15.05.2025[Johannes Fischer]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e5 7.Nf3 h6 8.g4 Qc7 9.g5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Be6 11.Qe2 Nbd7 The opening has not gone well for White, and by castling long, White gives Black a concrete target for attack. 12.0-0-0?! More cautious was 12.h4 e.g. b5 13.a3 Qa5 14.Bd2 Bc4 15.Qd1 Bxf1 16.Kxf1 Black has no problems, but White is still in the game. 12...Rc8 13.Kb1 Be7 14.Rg1 Qa5 15.Bd2

15...Rxc3! The typical exchange sacrifice in the Sicilian — in this position it is obvious and winning for Black. 16.Bxc3 Qxa2+ 17.Kc1 Nc5 18.Ng5 b5 19.Qe3

19...Ng4! A lovely tactical blow. 20.Rxg4 Bxg4 21.Re1 After 21.hxg4 Bxg5 22.Qxg5 Nxe4 Black wins: she threatens mate on a1 and attacks the white queen on g5. But with the continuation played in the game, Black wins the exchange and has a material advantage with a continuing attack. 21...Rh5 22.h4 Rxh4 23.Kd2 Rh5 24.Nf3 Bxf3 25.Qxf3 Bg5+ 26.Ke2 Rh4 27.Bh3 g6 28.Kf1 b4 29.Qg3 bxc3 0–1

Final standings

All games

Links

• German Chess Federation
• Keymer triumphs in Weissenhaus, defeats both Carlsen and Caruana
• Dinara Wagner: "I would like to become a Grandmaster"