The Deutsche Einzelmeisterschaft — the German Individual Chess Championship — is the annual national championship of Germany, run by the Deutscher Schachbund. The 2026 edition is scheduled for Magdeburg from July 25 to August 2.
Format: an 11-round Swiss open to all qualified German players, with the top finisher earning the title of German Champion. The 2025 edition was won by Vincent Keymer, Germany’s strongest player and a 2024 Candidates participant. Other recent winners include Matthias Bluebaum (2019, 2022, 2024), Daniel Fridman (2017), and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu (2010, 2015).
The German chess scene has long supported a strong national league (Bundesliga, the strongest national league in the world by combined playing strength), which contributes to the depth of the German championship field. The 2026 edition’s confirmed entries will include several of the top-ten German grandmasters and a large field of international masters and FIDE masters from regional qualifiers.
The Deutscher Schachbund’s broadcast operation has improved significantly since 2020; recent championships have been streamed live with multi-language commentary on Chess.com and on the federation’s YouTube channel.
For the official championship site, the Bundesliga calendar, and German chess federation news, see the right column.