Vincent Keymer won the Hou Yifan Challenge with a round to spare, finishing two points ahead of Christopher Yoo and Praggnanandhaa. It is the second straight Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour title for the 16-year old German who came out on top of the overall standings.  Team Polgar won the team competition and a trip to Dubai during the Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi world championship match.

Going into the final day of the competition, five players had a chance of taking first place, but the leader, Vincent Keymer, was considered the main favourite. Awonder Liang and Leon Mendonca dropped out immediately after losing to Volodar Murzin and Leya Garifullina, respectively, but Christopher Yoo and Praggnanandhaa were still in the race.

In Round 15, the Indian fell to Pawel Teclaf and, despite his fantastic start of 9 out of 9, had to abandon his quest for the first prize.  Christopher Yoo also lost (to Yahli Sokolovsky) and was coming into the penultimate round 1½ behind Keymer, who made a tough draw.

In Round 16, the leaders had hopeless positions at some point, but both turned tables on their opponents to score victories. That meant that Vincent Keymer deservedly won the event with a round to spare and topped the Tour standings.

The top-eight players in the overall standings qualified for the $40,000 knockout final from October 14-17, with the first prize of $10,000 and a spot on the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour (as a Tour Ambassador) on the line. 

Graphics: chess24.com

Official website: challengerschesstour.com