GM Wesley So beat GM Vincent Keymer in the Speed Chess Championship 2025, winning the closest match yet in the Round of 16. He won only in overtime, after Keymer won the last bullet game on demand. So, who played during his rest day at the U.S. Championship, where he’s in the sole lead, quipped about his busy schedule, “It’s not ideal, but winning today certainly made up for it!”
The next Round of 16 match, between GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Liem Le, will be on Friday, October 17 at 11:00 a.m. ET / 17:00 CEST / 8:30 p.m. IST.
Lazavik advances to the Quarterfinals, where he will face the winner of Nakamura vs. Le.
2025 Speed Chess Championship Bracket
Keymer 11-14 So
According to the pre-match prediction, the match should have been a blowout. Twenty-year-old Keymer, who debuted at the SCC this year, was predicted to have only a 17 percent chance of winning, but he certainly proved the stats wrong in this match.
It was as close a match as you can get. So won the first segment, Keymer won the second, and they were evenly matched in the bullet. So only broke away in overtime to earn $4,062.50 plus another $2,275 by win percentage. Keymer made $1,787.50 for his share of wins.
So commented after the match that “Vincent is getting stronger every year.” In St. Louis, he spoke to GM Fabiano Caruana the day before the match, and shared: “He said that Vincent is a good pairing, but I am not so sure!” He expanded, “I knew it was going to be a coin toss, but the match was tougher than I thought.”
I knew it was going to be a coin toss, but the match was tougher than I thought.
—Wesley So
5+1: Keymer 3-4 So
White won every decisive game of the first segment in the previous match, but the opposite was true in this one. Almost every game was decided in Black’s favor. So took a one-point lead after the first 75 minutes.
Despite winning the first segment, and the match overall, So said: “I think he played better chess today. Like, he was dominating the 5+1 section, he was also dominating pretty much in all openings… like, he was getting better positions with Black.” While Keymer may have outplayed So several times, he was unable to keep up in the time scrambles, as So explained, “He panics even in completely winning positions.”
Keymer, predicted to be a clear underdog, nearly won the first two games. After the German GM won game one, GM Aman Hambleton said of So’s poor start: “He’s missing a lot right now, Wesley is not focused to start off this match!” as he allowed two tactics, 17…Nd4!, and later the more elementary 26…b3.
The next two games were drawn, but they’d be followed by four decisive ones. Keymer let go of a winning rook endgame in game two, while it was So who had pressure who had pressure in game three, but was held in the queen and bishop endgame.
So evened the score with a black win of his own after that, playing on both sides of the board. In the middlegame, he threatened to crash through on the kingside, but then doubled his rooks on the other side of the board after the queen trade. It was So’s most convincing win in the segment.
After a break, Keymer stormed back with another win with Black. 32…f4!! must have been as satisfying to play as it was to witness, and White collapsed quickly as neither capture worked.
32…f4!! was a star pawn break by Vincent Keymer to regain the lead! Taking with the g-pawn drops the knight, but taking with the e-pawn drops the pawn on d4.https://t.co/EsyWf6i20C#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/aFb0RDOwd5
— chess24 (@chess24com) October 16, 2025
So evened the score when his opponent allowed a one-move skewer to win an exchange, a tactic the commentators happened to miss as well.
In the last game, Keymer was up a clear pawn with the queens off the board. In a classical game, his win would have been inevitable, but in speed chess anything can happen. Keymer panicked in a winning position, as So explained in the interview, and lost on time—slamming the table as he finished with a one-point deficit, rather than a one-point lead.
Vincent, up a pawn and winning, loses on time and slams the table! Wesley leads 4-3 ahead of the 3+1 segment! https://t.co/6YABv5OIdS #SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/XDQgBbCXHb
— chess24 (@chess24com) October 16, 2025
3+1: Keymer 4.5-3.5 So
When the players returned from the break, Hambleton noticed that So had something written on his hand. He had written “MF!!” on the back of his hand. Asked later what it meant, So refused to say the word on broadcast, saying, “I’ll keep the show PG-13!” We’ll keep this article PG-13 as well, but you can likely figure out what he meant.
So had run into trouble before for writing notes to himself; readers will remember the 2015 U.S. Championship, where So was forfeited for writing positive notes to himself on his scoresheet. This two-letter note did not cause any such controversy in this match. You can see So’s hand-note in the screenshot below.
IM Danny Rensch summarized the match so far: “Vincent is playing the better chess. He could easily be up a couple of games in this match if not for a couple of time scrambles that got away.” In hindsight, we can say the entire match went this way—but holding your nerves in time pressure is just as important as playing good moves.
Keymer won game one, sending his knight into enemy territory to win a pawn; despite looking like it could get trapped, there was no way to trap it. He could have won again in the second, but So slipped away in the time scramble.
Wesley drops a pawn but manages to hold the rook endgame anyway!https://t.co/zigUkfm0cy#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/vfisbIIdj9
— chess24 (@chess24com) October 16, 2025
In the next game, Keymer had just escaped to a holdable heavy-piece endgame when he, again, lost on time. Hambleton speculated that Keymer was playing as if it were 3+2, which is more common over the board, not 3+1, explaining, “You pretty much have to treat +1 [the increment] as ‘this will bail you out’ in a pre-move situation, but it won’t bail you out in a tough position.”
Just before the half-time break, however, Keymer managed to win with Black and even the score. 19…e4! was the beginning of a dangerous initiative that led to resignation in just nine more moves.
After an incorrect capture by So the next game, Keymer found a sequence to win an exchange and another game, taking the lead again.
The next game was drawn, and the one that followed looked to be headed for the same, until it didn’t. Keymer played an in-between check that left his king in a mating net.
The final game ended in a draw, and we had a tied score of 7.5-7.5 going into the bullet segment.
1+1: Keymer 3.5-3.5 So
“I kind of got saved by the bullet portion, really,” said So after the match. “If not for the last segment, Keymer would have won.” The bullet ended in an even score, but So was the one who was much closer to winning it.
If not for the last segment, Keymer would have won.
—Wesley So
The start to the bullet segment looked promising for Keymer when he found the temporary sacrifice 15.Nxf7! out of the opening, and went on to win without any time trouble bloopers.
Keymer looked to be winning again, to take a two-point lead, but settled for a threefold repetition in an exchange-up position. It was a nervous decision when playing on the increment, but one that potentially altered the entire match.
Vincent forces a threefold repetition from an exchange-up position!https://t.co/rcp6WtfA1X#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/VK1S2zcM1W
— chess24 (@chess24com) October 16, 2025
So then won the game after that, recovering from a worse-to-lost position, and Keymer retorted with a win of his own. The conversion was extremely shaky, however.
So evened the score convincingly after that, and it looked like Keymer completely missed the discovered attack with …d3, based on his reaction.
The last two games were absolutely critical. So won, and then was winning again when even a draw would secure the match. Keymer, from a losing position, won on demand to force overtime.
“This is a must-win game, but I think he is must-winning it!” says Aman Hambleton as Vincent Keymer wins on demand to reach overtime!https://t.co/bXdmHCnnPF#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/LsZDilsh7X
— chess24 (@chess24com) October 16, 2025
Overtime: Keymer 0-3 So
Despite winning at the critical moment, the momentum was still on So’s side. Keymer never recovered from the shock of the last two games. So would win three games, without needing the fourth.
The second game was perhaps the nicest, where he won with a crushing attack from a Benoni pawn structure with colors reversed.
So won the last game, crushingly, though a draw would have been enough.
After the match, So answered questions from the audience as well. Asked whether he would prefer to win the U.S. Championship or the Speed Chess Championship, he chose a third option: his goal is to qualify for the 2026 Esports World Cup. The top three finishers of this event will qualify directly.
He was also asked about the new Total World Championship Tour, recently announced by FIDE and Norway Chess, he answered with brutal honesty: “We’ll see, but I hate the fact that they want to make 45+30 a classical-rated game. I think 45+30 should be like slow-rapid.” Will he participate? “I’m not sure I’ll join that, but we’ll see what the format is.”
As for what’s next in the SCC, we will see Nakamura vs. Le next. So already expects Nakamura to be his next opponent, but will we see an upset? Let us know your predictions in the comments below!
The Speed Chess Championship, which starts on October 12 and culminates with Live Finals on February 8, 2026 in London, is Chess.com’s most important speed chess event. Some of the biggest names in chess compete to determine the best speed chess player in the world. The games are played with time controls of 5+1, 3+1, and 1+1. The prize fund is $250,000.
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