The young German professional Vincent Keymer narrowly missed his first world championship title on his rise to the chess elite.
A good month after his 18th birthday, the grandmaster from Saulheim in Rhineland-Palatinate came second at the Rapid Chess World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Wednesday (28.12.22). With 9.5 points from 13 games, Keymer was only beaten by world champion Magnus Carlsen from Norway by 0.5 points.
Keymer wins against Vachier-Lagrave and Nepomnyashchi
The chess professional won his games against Fabiano Caruana from the USA, who tied for third place, Maxime Vachier-Lagarve from France and Jan Nepomnjaschtschi from Russia, who was Carlsen’s challenger for the classic world title in 2021. Defending champion Nodirbek Abdusattorow from Uzbekistan finished tenth with 8.5 points. Rapid chess is played with 15 minutes time control per player plus 10 seconds per move.
Iranian chess champion appeared without a headscarf
The Iranian chess champion Sara Khadem al Sharieh apparently competed in the tournament without a headscarf. Actually, female athletes from the Islamic Republic who compete for Iran abroad are obliged to wear a headscarf.
Images from the performance are circulating on social media and are also being circulated by Iranian news sites Khabarvarzeshi and Etemad.