56 nations, one game: World elite and packed halls in Karlsruhe
Rounds 4 and 5 of the grenke Chess Festival 2026 offered a blend of expected outcomes and surprising moments.
Carlsen drops his first half point
Magnus Carlsen conceded his first half point of the tournament, drawing against Amin Tabatabaei in Round 4. In Round 5, however, the Norwegian bounced back immediately, defeating Vokhidov.
One particularly remarkable moment came with the move 25. Qxf7!. At first glance, the pawn on f7 appears poisoned, as Black can respond with 25...Nxd4, launching a series of checks against the white king. But Carlsen had calculated everything precisely.
Keymer knows the position
Vincent Keymer provided one of the most interesting stories even before Round 4 began.
The drawn starting position 534 was already familiar to him: he had analyzed it last year in Weissenhaus. The setup was relatively simple — only the king and queen had been swapped.
His assessment was clear: “After 1. d4, Black is already worse. I was glad my opponent played 1. e4.”
A possible indication that preparation can still play a role, even in the Freestyle format. In round 5, starting position 230 appeared on the board.
Keymer and Niemann lead the field
Keymer won both of his games and now shares the lead with Hans Niemann as the only players with a perfect 5/5 score.
A particularly intriguing storyline is developing: a direct clash between Carlsen and Niemann is becoming increasingly likely — just days before the release of the Netflix documentary “Untold”, which explores the controversy between the two.
Hans Niemann (photo: Ivica Müller)
Classical A Open
In the Classical A Open, two players also remain perfect: China’s Tong Xiao and Bundesliga player Abhijeet Gupta (Deizisau).
They are followed by a group of 26 players on 4.5 points.
56 nations at the board
A key aspect of the festival is the unifying nature of chess. The grenke Chess Festival has long established itself as an international meeting point for the global chess community.
Players from 56 nations are participating. After Germany, the largest delegations come from Switzerland and France. At the same time, the diversity extends much further — from Australia to Madagascar, the Philippines, and Syria.
The organizers were particularly pleased to welcome children from the Lviv Chess School in Ukraine. For them, the tournament became a special experience beyond the board as well: among other things, they had the chance to collect autographs from Ukrainian world champion Mariya Muzychuk.
Venue close to capacity
A look behind the scenes highlights the scale of interest in the event. Hanna Marie Klek, currently ranked No. 3 among German women and a key member of the organizing team, reported:
“Yesterday morning, we had only two unoccupied boards left in the entire congress center.”
Conclusion
Rounds 4 and 5 once again reflect the unique character of the grenke Chess Festival: world-class chess, international participation, and countless meaningful encounters and memories. ♟️
the magic of chess (photo: Darius Gorzinski)