“Sertion”
German chess wholesal master with historical success
16.09.2025 – 11:46 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
It is a historical achievement: As the first German in decades, chess professional Matthias Blübaum is playing for the chance to challenge the world champion.
Matthias Blübaum reacted to one of his greatest sporting successes with a sober tone. “Jo, that was okay,” wrote the 28-year-old to national coach Jan Gustafsson-in response to his congratulations on an “incredible sensation”. The grand master has done something that has not been a German for decades: he is faced with the World Cup candidate tournament.
In the prestigious Fide Grand Swiss in the Uzbek Samarkand, Flübaum took second place. In doing so, he secured one of only two available places for the candidate tournament. In this round of the best eight chess players, the next challenger of the world champion Dommaraju Gukesh from India is determined.
The German Schachbund spoke on its website of a “great moment for German chess” and emphasized: “Success is historical.”
Flübaum is the first German player since Robert Hübner to qualify for a generally recognized World Cup candidate tournament. Hübner was eliminated in Sarajevo in 1991 in the round of 16. Cologne died in January of this year.
Where and when the upcoming candidate tournament will take place is still open.
After the tournament, Blübaum himself was surprised by my own success: “I would never have expected that I could do it. It was all the more beautiful that it worked.” The Lemgoer qualified second behind the Dutch Anish Giri for the candidate tournament. He also rated the move-in as a profit for the German chess scene: it was “nice for German fans”.
Blübaum had previously won the European Championship. In Samarkand, he also won against the favorite Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Erigaisi Arjun.
In the candidate tournament, Blübaum will start as an outsider-a role that, according to DSB President Ingrid Lauterbach, will be a role. “This performance is fantastic. It was at the front all the time, that is not high enough for an underdog.”
The reigning world champion Gukesh did not show a good shape at the Grand Swiss, lost 14 elop points. Flübaum, on the other hand, could significantly increase with an increase of 22 points. Despite the development, the German didn’t want to look too far ahead. So far, he has thought about any World Cup chances.
Vincent Keymer also convinced at the tournament in Samarkand. The 20-year-old from Mainz achieved 7.5 points from eleven games, like the floodplace, but landed just behind it due to the second rating. He still has the opportunity to qualify for the candidate tournament via the World Cup.