Meet Vincent Keymer: The 20-Year-Old Who Defeated World Number 1

Vincent Keymer is a German chess grandmaster who recently beat the World Number 1 Magnus Carlsen in the semi-finals of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025. The match took place on 11 February 2025 and the young chess prodigy stunned Magnus with his incredible and calm play.

He defeated Carlsen in both rounds and advanced to the finals against Fabiano Caruana. He then went on to defeat Caruana as well in the finals and won the first leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 in a match that took place on 15 February.

The young chess player also has a reputation for beating Magnus in knockout stages. He defeated Carlsen at the FIDE World Cup in 2023. So let’s take a look at his incredible journey.

From Child Prodigy To Chess Sensation: Vincent Keymer’s Rise To Success

Vincent Keymer comes from a music family and he plays the piano. His father and mother are both musicians, however, fate has other plans for him.

He was born in Mainz, Germany, a city that has a long interesting history of hosting Chess tournaments. He learned chess from his parents and started playing at the age of 5.

He became the European Champion in 2015 and 2017 at the age of 12. At just 13, he won the Grenke Open which earned him his first grandmaster norm after defeating 49 grandmasters in the tournament. He’s considered to be one of the most talented players since Emanuel Lasker.

He’s coached by Peter Leko, who’s also one of the world’s most promising prodigy. He earned his final norm in FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament 2019 making him the youngest German ever to achieve the title.
He competed and finished 5th in the FIDE Grand Swiss tournament 2021.

He won the Prague Chess Festival Challengers in 2022 and finished as runner-up in the World Rapid Chess Championship in the same year. He also bagged the Chessable Division 2 tourney and Akiba Rubenstein Memorial.

Keymer beat World Number 1 Magnus Carlsen in the first classical game in the FIDE World Cup 2023 but ended up losing to him in the second round.

He was a part of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour 2025 where he secured 3 wins and 2 draws in the Round Robin Stage. He lost 4 matches and finished with 4 points.

He defeated Alireza Firouzja in the quarter-finals of the tournament and beat Magnus Carlsen in both rounds of the semi-finals. The final match took place on 15 February where he defeated World Number 2 Fabiano Caruana and won the first leg of the tour. This could be his first step towards becoming the Freestyle Chess Champion. There will be four more legs of the tournament, taking place across the world. The final stage is scheduled in December in Cape Town, South Africa.

Also Read: Freestyle Grand Slam Chess Tour 2025: Top 4 Players In The Running