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07/23/2026 July 23, 2026 Is chess booming in Germany? Elite players and amateurs alike are gathering for Germany's Chess Summit in Dresden from July 16-26
07/23/2026 July 23, 2026 Is chess booming in Germany? Elite players and amateurs alike are gathering for Germany's Chess Summit in Dresden from July 16-26, 2026 (file photo) [FILE: August 2023] Image: Meurer/Beautiful Sports/IMAGO Chess players from around Germany gathered in Dresden this week for the annual Chess Summit, as the sport is enjoying unprecedented popularity in Germany. "Our membership numbers are growing at an excellent rate. We are on the verge of surpassing the 100,000 mark," Paul Meyer-Dunker, President of Germany's Chess Association, told the dpa news agency in Dresden.
Many of the 2300 clubs across Germany are feeling the surge. According to Meyer-Dunker, some clubs in cities such as Berlin are no longer accepting new members because of the overwhelming demand. Despite the strong growth, Meyer-Dunker said there is still room for improvement when it comes to female participation. Around 90% of members of the German Chess Federation are male. The highest proportion of girls is found among the youngest age group — children under eight years old — where they account for roughly one-third of participants.
However, those figures drop sharply among older age groups. Nonetheless, Meyer-Dunker believes Germany's national teams are stronger than they have been for a long time. "We have a national team in which every player is ranked in the world's top 100. This is a team that has a chance to compete for a medal at the Chess Olympiad in Uzbekistan this September," he said. He pointed to Vincent Keymer, as well as Matthias Blübaum, a two-time European champion, as players who belongs among the world's elite.
On the women’s side as well, Germany has top-level players such as Elisabeth Pähtzand Dinara Wagner. In the European Team Championships in 2025, the German women’s team won a medal — bronze — for the first time.
The BriefWire