German GM Vincent Keymer explained why he failed to qualify for the 2026 Candidates Tournament in an interview with Chess.com – Deutsch. Vincent notes that he is playing too much, which results in too little training. Keymer plans to play in fewer tournaments and dedicate more time to training in 2026.

Vincent Keymer

Vincent Keymer

World No. 4

“Of course, it was a bit frustrating not to qualify for the Candidates, especially because I was so close at the 2025 Grand Swiss.

The reason for this might be that I have relatively little training. I’m playing so much right now that I’m playing more than I’m training. My main work currently only happens during tournaments — in the preparation for games. There’s very little time left for training camps…

This year, I plan to change that a bit because I will be playing even more Elite tournaments, such as Norway Chess and others, and more precise preparation is needed there. So, I want to try to play a bit less and train more in 2026.

I say this every year, but this time I really want to do it…”

German GM Vincent Keymer (2776) is a World No. 4 and the highest-rated German player in history. He achieved 2700+ in 2022 and has consistently ranked among the world’s Top 10-15 players. Vincent finished 4th at the FIDE Grand Swiss 2025, losing qualifying slots for the 2026 Candidates to Anish Giri and Matthias Blubaum.

Credit: Stev Bonhage