Vincent Keymer wins Rubinstein Memorial, enters world top 20

A 6/7 start, 2 losses in the final rounds

Akiba Rubinstein belongs to the group of remarkably strong players who never managed to become world champions. Born in Stawiski (a city located in northeastern Poland) in 1880, he was supposed to face Emanuel Lasker in a match for the World Championship, a contest which was cancelled due to the outbreak of the First World War. During his illustrious career, Rubinstein obtained wins over the likes of Carl Schlechter and José Raúl Capablanca.

Honouring the great Polish master's memory, a 10-player single round-robin was organised in Polanica Zdroj, with main sponsor ALREH Medical allowing for the presence of a strong field of grandmasters. The tournament took place on 17-25 August and included 3 players rated 2700 or above, while the lowest-rated participant in the field was 4-time Polish champion Mateusz Bartel, rated 2630. The time control was 90 minutes for the game, with 15 minutes added after move 40 and 30-second increments from the first move.

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Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Vincent Keymer and Alexey Sarana were the top seeds. A number of formidable, experienced players were also in the mix - seeded fourth to sixth were Pentala Harikrishna, Vladimir Fedoseev and Radoslaw Wojtaszek, a remarkably strong trio.

ALREH Medical's Radoslaw Sliwerski made the ceremonial first move in the game between Vincent Keymer and Andrei Volokitin from round 6 | Photo: Official website

Keymer had a perfect 4/4 start, with his consecutive wins featuring both astounding tactical awareness and precise technique when needed. In round 5, he was held to a draw by Wojtaszek, which was followed by a great win over Andrei Volokitin (analysed below). After drawing David Navara in round 7, Keymer had a 2-point advantage over Duda and Vladimir Fedoseev, with 2 rounds to go.

Curiously, the German prodigy secured tournament victory with a round to spare despite losing his round-8 encounter against Sam Shankland. The 19-year-old also lost his final game - against local hero Duda - but still finished a full point ahead of a 4-player chasing pack consisting of Navara, Shankland, Fedoseev and Duda.

Keymer's showing in Poland gained him 10.7 rating points, as he is now ranked 19^th in the live ratings list. Keymer is 1 of 4 junior players (aged 20 or younger) belonging to the exclusive 2700 club. The prodigy from Mainz will lead the German squad in the upcoming Chess Olympiad in Budapest.

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Sam Shankland (3^rd place), David Navara (2^nd) and Vincent Keymer (1^st) during the closing ceremony in Polanica Zdroj | Photo: Official website

Keymer 1 - 0 Volokitin

Analysis by Johannes Fischer

Keymer, Vincent2719

1–0

Volokitin, Andrei2667

60th Rubinstein ALREH GM 2024 Polanica-Zdroj22.08.2024[Johannes Fischer]

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Nc3 Nc7 7.a3 g6 8.h4 Bg4 9.Qb3 The position after 8...Bg4 has been played frequently in the past, unlike 9.Qb3. White counters 8...Bg4 with an attack on the b7-pawn and 'incidentally' also threatens Ng5 at time. However, the queen's move goes against the advice repeatedly preached to beginners to develop as quickly as possible in the opening and not to bring the queen into play too early - especially not to go for a pawn raid. But no rule is without exception. Keymer will have looked at the variation on his computer at home and come to the realisation that his position allows this violation of proven opening principles. Bg7

10.Qxb7 Bd7 Threatens ...Rb8 grabbing the queen. 11.Qb3 Rb8 12.Qd1 This is the disadvantage of White's strategy: White has moved the queen four times to capture the b7-pawn and she is now back on her starting square. But she won't stay there for long either. Be6 Threatening ...Bb3, which forces the white queen to move again. 13.Qa4 Bd7 14.d3 Nd4 15.Qd1 But this queen's excursion was brief and once again she has returned to the starting square. Bc6 16.h5 Nxf3+ 17.Bxf3 Bxf3 18.exf3 0-0 19.hxg6 hxg6

After the first tactical skirmishes, it's time to take stock. White was able to hold on to the extra pawn, but suffers from weak pawns on d3 and b2. Black has active pieces, while White has attacking chances on the h-file. 20.Kf1 Qd7 21.Kg2 Rfd8 22.Qg1 The queen hasn't had enough and prepares to attack the black king. f5 23.Bh6

23...Rxb2? Volokitin invested almost all of his remaining thinking time on this move. But the move is still a mistake. Volokitin probably didn't see a concrete way for White to gain an advantage after 23...Rxb2 and then decided to let it show. But without the dark-squared bishop the black king is too exposed and White has very good attacking chances. More pragmatic and stronger was 23...Bf6 and it's not clear how White can continue his attack. The engines assess the position as balanced and give both sides chances. 24.Bxg7 Kxg7 25.Qc1! Another queen move and again it's strong! Rbb8 26.Qh6+ Kf7 27.Qh7+ Kf6 28.Qh4+ Kg7 29.Rae1 Ne6

30.Qc4 The position is complicated and both sides had little time left. After this move White is still winning, but the engines want to play more forcefully and brutally. Engines recommend 30.Qh7+ Kf6 and now 31.Ne4+! e.g. fxe4 32.dxe4 Nd4 33.Rh6 Rg8 34.e5+ Ke6 35.Rxg6+ Rxg6 36.Qxg6+ Kd5 37.Qe4+ Ke6 38.Qg4+ Nf5 39.Qg6+ Kd5 40.Rd1+ Nd4 41.Qe4+ Kc4 41...Ke6 42.Qg4+ 42.Rc1+ Kb5 43.Rb1+ and White wins. 30...Rb6 31.Na4 Rc6 32.Nb2 with the idea of bringing the knight to e5 via c4. Rb6

33.Qc1! Another 'retreat' - the queen moves back to c1, where it was placed eight moves ago. And again it wants to move from there to h6 to attack the black king. Black finds no defence against this idea. Rbb8 34.Qe3 Nf8 35.Nc4 Kg8 36.Qh6! One last queenside move. White threatens Qh8+ and Ne5 (or Ne5 and Qh8#) and Black is powerless against these threats. A powerful and original attacking game! 1–0

Final standings

All games

Links

• Official website
• Congratulations! Vincent Keymer turns 19
• Indjic v Keymer: Analysis by Zoran Petronijevic