The German grand master Matthias Blübaum has been the first German to have the chance of a duel for the world championship title for 34 years.
The 28-year-old from Lemgo secured the Fide Grand Swiss in the Uzbek Samarkand with second place with one of the two tickets for the candidate tournament, in which the challenger for the Indian defending champion Dommaraju Gukesh (19) is played out.
“I would never have expected that I could do it. It was all the more beautiful that it worked,” said Blübaum after his coup, only the Dutch Anish Giri was in front of him.
It is not yet clear when and where Flübaum has the opportunity to qualify against seven other grandmasters for the World Cup.
Vincent Keymer narrowly missed the candidate tournament, the 20-year-old was on the same way with a floodplace on points, but had the weaker rating.
DSB and national coach enthusiastic
The German Schachbund (DSB) reacted euphorically to the performance of Blübaum. This is “fantastic. He was there all the time, that is not high enough for an underdog,” said President Ingrid Lauterbach.
“An incredible sensation, an incredible performance by Matthias Blübaum. An absolutely crazy performance by Matthias,” said chess national coach Jan Gustafson.
In Robert Hübner in 1991, a German player played in Robert Hübner in Sarajevo with a recognized candidate tournament.