From Curiosity to Mastery: Vincent Keymer's Chess Journey

What inspired you to start playing chess, and what keeps you motivated to continue now?

I started out of curiosity. I do not come from a chess family. When I was five years old, I came across a chessboard. I asked my parents what it was for, and they showed me the rules. I became very interested in it, and then I joined a local club. And this is how it all began.

What advice would you give to aspiring chess players who are just starting their journey?

Just do whatever is fun for you. Discover what you like and start playing your first tournaments, and then you will see how it goes.

What resources or tools do you recommend for beginners looking to learn and improve their chess skills?

There is a lot available online. Tactics are available for everyone and at all levels and it is free of charge. Books are not so popular anymore, but there are some classics that can really give you a basic understanding of chess, which is really important, and they are definitely worthwhile reading.

Can you describe a typical day in your life?

After finishing school and starting to play chess professionally, there were not many typical days. It was either tournament time or a bit of time to relax in between tournaments. I would normally get up rather late, around 10 or 11 in the morning, do some training, and some sports activity. I love biking but also indoor sports, and then spend at least 6 hours of training per day, up to 10 hours sometimes.

When were you sure that you would go into chess professionally?

Maybe not too early. I went to school until I was 17. But at 14 -15, I felt that I reached a level at a certain age that makes you believe that if you continue working the way you feel is right, then things should work out. There are no guarantees that you will ever reach there, but that was the time that I decided that chess was what I wanted to do.

What specific skills and qualities do you believe children can develop through playing chess from a young age?

First of all, patience, especially if you play long games. It also helps you reflect. It can also help bring you some logic and strategic thinking, and for sure it is a great way to improve memory in children, there is a huge amount of openings to memorize or learn by heart, something that has helped me in school with other subjects, too. So overall, lots of positives, depends on how much time you spend on chess.

Chess remains popular globally. Millions of people play every day. Why do you think this is so, and why is it crucial for governments and companies to invest in chess promotion?

I think we would all wish that governments and companies would support chess more. There are two aspects of chess, one is top, professional chess and the other is more about hobbies or something that can help children develop certain abilities.

From the professional side, if you look at India, they invest much more money in chess than other countries, and now they have a huge amount of talent, young talent, more than anywhere else in the world, which shows the potential that chess holds. And as I already said, I think that chess can also help improve certain abilities for children. More could also be done to promote chess as a sport to the global public.

This will be your first time playing at the Grand Chess Tour, what are your expectations?

I followed the Grand Chess Tour for many years, and it has always been some sort of an elite event to me, not many players get in so I am very happy to be part of it. As for expectations, it is hard to say, as there are no weak players. No one wants to finish last, including me, and we will all try and use our chances and get on the top of the field. I will do my best to prepare and give it my everything and hope this will be enough to get a good result.