Historic success: German national chess team wins bronze at the Olympics

Before the title fights, the Germans were at least cautiously optimistic. "We want to play for a medal. The competition is extremely close, so a place in the top ten would be a strong result," Vincent Keymer defined the goal in an interview with BILD AM SONNTAG.

Two weeks later, the 21-year-old and his team are returning from Uzbekistan with a real coup. 26 years after their last medal win, the German national team surprisingly won bronze at the Chess Olympiad. In Samarkand the team secured bronze. Host Uzbekistan won gold, silver went to India.

The decisive step came in the last round with a 2.5:1.5 win against the Netherlands. The outsider thus claimed third place in the overall ranking. Matthias Blübaum won against Jorden van Foreest, while Keymer and the brothers Frederik and Rasmus Svane each played a draw.

2000 was the last German precious metal

"If I lose, it would all be over. That's why I was under a lot of pressure and I'm very happy that I managed the draw. I can't believe it," said Frederik Svane, who got the necessary result in the last duel and thus secured the medal, on "chess.com". He hadn't lost any of his eleven games throughout the tournament.

Keymer is currently the star of the team. He is ranked sixth in the world by the world association FIDE. The Mainz native has lived in Vienna since 2025. “I put the greatest pressure on myself. And of course I’m happy to help advance German chess,” says Keymer. This worked extremely well in Uzbekistan.