Chess | Vincent Keymer at the Grand Swiss: Fireworks on the chessboard

The hype seems to have no end: Germany finally has a truly world-class chess player again. When Vincent Keymer broke into the world's top ten for the first time in August, it was all over the news. And rightly so: The 20-year-old has had an outstanding year so far: He dominated the German Championship and won a competitive tournament in Chennai. Then there was his triumph at the freestyle event in Weissenhaus in February, where he beat Hikaru Nakamura , Fabiano Caruana, and Magnus Carlsen , among others.

The Candidates Tournament calls

Expectations were accordingly high ahead of this year's Grand Swiss in Samarkand, where the 120 best players will compete. Not only is it one of the most important tournaments in the chess world , but it also awards two spots for the Candidates Tournament – ​​the winner of which will then challenge Indian world champion Gukesh Dommaraju next year.

But there's still a long way to go. It's all the more challenging given that the younger generation around Keymer prefers a much riskier style of play than the established players. Keymer put it this way in an interview with "New in Chess": "I know the players of my generation very well, and we all try to fight out every game." While this makes the game significantly more interesting, it also comes at the expense of stability.

Complicated endgames

This can also be observed at the Grand Swiss. After two flawless games, Keymer took a lot of risks in round three against the 14-year-old Turk Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş and almost got outplayed, but then managed to salvage a draw. In the next round against compatriot Frederik Svane, Keymer had a considerable opening advantage, but then became sloppy and only won because of his opponent's mistakes. Against the Frenchman Marc'Andria Maurizzi, his luck ran out: in an even bishop endgame, he overlooked a potential breakthrough by his opponent in time trouble and not only lost the game but also lost contact with the leader. Undeterred, he then fought off the Armenian Robert Hovhannisyan in a complicated endgame – and regained ground.

In such a strong tournament, it takes an extraordinary performance to prevail: Half of the matches have just been played – and so far, only seven players have managed to remain undefeated. Among them is another German: European Champion Matthias Blübaum, who is playing a fabulous tournament. Undeterred by the hype surrounding his compatriot, the 28-year-old has managed to cement his place at the top with rock-solid and very stable chess, trailing only half a point behind the Iranian leader, Parham Maghsoodloo.

26-year-old Dinara Wagner is performing similarly well at the two-week Grand Swiss, which runs until September 15th: Although she lost her last match against Kateryna Lagno, she is only one point away from the top spot in the women's rankings .

Suboptimal openings

It's difficult to identify trends in chess. One trend is to try to put one's opponent on the back foot with slightly suboptimal openings. While it used to be common for top players to try to win major tournaments primarily by not losing, more risk has now entered the game. The motto: Things go wrong sometimes, but those who succeed more often deserve to be at the top.

This style of play has already led to a mass of complicated and nerve-wracking endgames in Samarkand, which are difficult to understand even with the help of computers. During the broadcasts, world-class player and commentator Judit Polgár occasionally burst into joyful laughter for minutes at the complexity of the endgames. Individual brilliance no longer reveals itself in the first 20 moves, but only after four hours of play.

This development seems to suit the youngest generation, which is currently knocking loudly on the door to the world elite: Both 14-year-old Erdoğmuş and the US player Abhimanyu Mishra, two years his senior, are still undefeated in tournaments. Mishra even managed to beat world champion Dommaraju. After years of dominance by the Norwegian Carlsen, chess is now so disrupted that almost anything can happen.