The German chess grandmaster Vincent Keymer found a more than conciliatory conclusion at the final of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour in South Africa after his bitter exit in the semi-finals. Meanwhile, superstar Magnus Carlsen had to admit defeat in the final.
Vincent Keymer secured third place in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam Tour final tournament – and did so in a pretty convincing way.
Germany’s best chess grandmaster defeated the in-form Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov with both white in the first game and black in the second. The 21-year-old, who won the first tournament of the 2025 freestyle tour in Weissenhaus in February, can now look forward to prize money of $80,000. Sindarov won $60,000 for fourth place.
The tour plays freestyle chess according to the Fischer Random rules (Chess960), so that no two games start the same. The arrangement of the pieces is drawn by lot and the players only have a few minutes to think about an opening strategy.
In the first game, Keymer was able to make good use of his advantages in the opening; a mistake by Sindarov on move 16 also invited the German to increase the pressure and ultimately take the lead. In the second game, a draw was enough for Keymer to win. However, his pawn majority in the endgame was strong enough to win with the black pieces.
Chess star Aronian wins top prize money: “I’m a little proud”
The grand final was contested in South Africa by Magnus Carlsen and Keymer conqueror Levon Aronian, who had already competed against each other in the Chess960 variant in Las Vegas in July. As was the case back then, the Norwegian superstar was left behind.
Aronian was able to prevail with white in the first game and got a draw in the second – securing the top prize money of $200,000. Because the 43-year-old also finished the 2025 tour in second place, an additional $50,000 will be added. First place on the tour went to Carlsen again.
“I think I played really well today,” said the happy winner afterwards: “I think I was more or less in control in both games, got good positions out of the openings and am therefore very happy with my game. I’m even a bit proud of myself!”