Grandmasters Vincent Keymer and Hans Niemann remain the only players with perfect 5/5 scores after five rounds of the Grenke Chess Freestyle Open in Karlsruhe, Germany. The pair will face off on top board in round six on Sunday at 10:00 CEST. Five others trail at 4.5 points.
Karlsruhe, Germany – In the Grenke Chess Freestyle Open, a Chess960 event serving as a qualifier for FIDE Freestyle World Championships, GMs Vincent Keymer and Hans Niemann hold perfect records after winning both their round four and five games on Saturday, April 4. Keymer defeated GM Volodar Murzin and GM Nodirbek Yakubboev, while Niemann overcame GM Maksim Chigaev. The tournament features a prize fund exceeding €200,000 across nine Swiss-system rounds with 90+30 time controls. GM Magnus Carlsen's unbeaten run ended in round four against GM Amin Tabatabaei, who had won the Reykjavik Open undefeated last week. Carlsen rebounded with a win over GM Shamsiddin Vokhidov in round five. GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexey Sarana, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave sit half a point back at 4.5/5. Niemann, explaining his steady play, said, “To be honest, I really have been sleeping badly and I’m still jetlagged, so if you don’t have much energy, you play old man’s chess!” Round six pairings place Keymer against Niemann on board one, starting April 5 at 10:00 CEST (4 a.m. ET), followed by round seven later that day. The event at Kongress Hall draws over 3,500 players across formats.