Starting positions resembling traditional chess

By Conrad Schormann / Freestyle Chess GmbH

After round three, nineteen players shared the lead. Round four reduced that number to six. Round five reduced it further to two. Vincent Keymer and Hans Niemann lead the Freestyle Open A at the grenke Chess Festival in Karlsruhe with a perfect score of 5/5. The two will face each other in round six, a direct clash for the sole lead.

Magnus Carlsen remains close. His run of twelve consecutive wins ended in round four, where he was held to a draw by Amin Tabatabaei in a rook endgame. With the black pieces, Carlsen had to work hard to equalise and then couldn't create any winning chances. In round five, he responded with a win against Shamsiddin Vokhidov. The result keeps him in the chasing group on 4½/5. In round six, Carlsen will face Alexey Sarana.

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Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

Round four

The fourth round introduced position 534, a setup almost completely equal to the traditional starting position - but with king and queen sitting on the d and e-files respectively. The position triggered immediate reactions. "You cannot do this to chess", Peter Leko remarked, referring to its resemblance to incorrect setups seen in films and illustrations.

After 1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bf4 followed by 0-0-0 (protecting d4!) and f3-e4 White can play a pleasant reversed version of the Italian

The position carries a Freestyle trap. In most starting positions, Black may choose to mirror White's setup, the most solid way to start the game. Here, that logic fails. After 1.d4, the natural reply 1…d5 already leads to problems.

Vincent Keymer had prior knowledge of the position, having analysed it at the 2025 Freestyle Chess Grand Slam stage in Paris. "I was happy that my opponent played 1.e4", Keymer stated after the game.

Keymer went on to defeat Volodar Murzin in a long game. Murzin held equality for an extended phase, but with his clock running down to just over a minute, his position began to deteriorate. Keymer tightened control and eventually trapped a knight, forcing resignation.

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Ian Nepomniachtchi recovered from early opening pressure against Parham Maghsoodloo and took over the game after stabilising the position, later converting his advantage without complications.

Ian Nepomniachtchi | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

The last remaining game between players with perfect scores saw Maksim Chigaev and Vladimir Fedoseev fighting for hours on end. Despite earlier difficulties, Chigaev prevailed, preserving his place among the leaders.

In an all-Uzbek encounter, Shamsiddin Vokhidov got winning chances against Nodirbek Abdusattorov but allowed the game to end in a draw against his higher-rated countryman.

Round five

Deciding the Freestyle Chess position for the next round | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

Round five brought another starting position close to the traditional one, with only the rook and knight on the a and b-files exchanged. "The forces of lottery wanted us to play traditional chess", commentator Alexander Donchenko noted.

The games themselves remained anything but conventional. Keymer defeated Nodirbek Yakubboev to become the first player to reach 5/5. Yakubboev started the game with an early queen excursion, but this enterprise did not translate into stability. Eventually, the queen had no choice but to drop back. Under pressure on both the board and the clock, Yakubboev lost control and was eventually defeated.

Niemann followed suit on the adjacent board, converting his advantage against Chigaev to also reach 5/5.

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Hans Niemann in good spirits right before the start of round five - is he signalling something to Vincent Keymer? They are set to fight for the lead in Sunday's sixth round | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

Sarana and Nepomniachtchi tested each other briefly before agreeing to a draw, a result that removed both from the group of players with perfect scores. Carlsen's win against Vokhidov kept him in contention for the tournament win.

One of the most notable results came from Daniel Hausrath, who defeated Tabatabaei. Hausrath, rated 2440 and ranked far below the elite players around him, secured the only upset win at the top boards. He did so in his very first Freestyle Chess game. Before the round, Hausrath had switched from the grenke Open to the Freestyle Open.

The race in the women's field remains open. After five rounds, no player has separated from the group. Nine players stand on 3½ points, followed by eleven players with 3 points. Three women players will qualify for the FIDE Freestyle Chess Women's World Championship 2027.

Pranav Venkatesh v. Jan-Krzysztof Duda (½-½) | Photo: Nils Rohde / ChessBase

Photo gallery - grenke A-Open

By Nils Rohde

18-year-old German rising star Leonardo Costa is one of twenty-six players standing on 4½/5 in the classical chess open - a half point behind co-leaders Xiao Tong and Abhijeet Gupta

Opening Encyclopaedia 2026

YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY: Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product.
YOUR EASY ACCESS TO OPENING THEORY
Be well prepared with the new Opening Encyclopaedia 2026! Whether you want to build up a reliable and powerful opening repertoire or find new opening ideas for your existing repertoire, the Opening Encyclopaedia covers the entire opening theory on one product and is the ideal start for your opening training. Many new articles enrich the current theory with new or revisited ideas. The Encyclopaedia can help you learn openings quickly and give you a head start on your next opponent. Each article contains explanations and annotated games illustrating typical plans to deepen your understanding.

Ruben Gideon Koellner, aged 22, also stands on 4½/5

The main stage, with the positions from the top boards of the A-Open displayed on the screen

Standings after round 5 - Freestyle Chess

...310 players

All available games - Freestyle Chess

Standings after round 5 - Classical Chess

...998 players

All available games - Classical Chess

Links

• Official website
• grenke Chess YouTube channel
• Full pairings and standings on Chess-Results: Freestyle chess | Classical chess