German grandmaster Vincent Keymer has won the Freestyle Chess Open A at the grenke Chess Festival in Karlsruhe, securing qualification for the 2027 FIDE Freestyle Chess World Championship.
Keymer finished level on points with France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave but claimed first place on tiebreak after a short draw between the two in the final round. Both players ended ahead of a chasing pack led by world number one Magnus Carlsen, who remained in contention but could not catch the лидers on the final day.
With the victory, Keymer earns €60,000 in prize money and joins Carlsen, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Fabiano Caruana in the 2027 championship lineup, all of whom qualified earlier through the 2026 World Championship.
In the women’s event, India’s Harika Dronavalli, Kazakhstan’s Alua Nurman, and Germany’s Dinara Wagner secured qualification spots for the 2027 FIDE Freestyle Chess Women’s World Championship. The trio each scored 6.0 points, narrowly finishing ahead of a tightly contested group just half a point behind.
A full tournament report is expected to be published on the Freestyle Chess website.
