Rasmus Svane

German chess grandmaster (born 1997)

Rasmus Svane

Svane in 2023

Country| Germany
Born|  (1997-05-21) 21 May 1997 (age 28)
Allerød Municipality, Denmark
Title| Grandmaster (2016)
FIDE rating| 2619 (August 2025)
Peak rating| 2651 (May 2022)
Peak ranking| No. 96 (October 2023)

Rasmus Svane (born 21 May 1997) is a Danish-German chess grandmaster living in Lübeck, Germany.[1] He has represented Germany at the European Team Chess Championship and Chess Olympiad. He is the No. 5 ranked German player as of September 2023.[update][2]

## Personal life

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Svane was born in Allerød Municipality, Denmark. He is a son of the Danish cellist Troels Svane,[3] and Danish is his first language.[1] Svane has a younger brother, Frederik (born 2004),[4] who is also a chess player.[5]

Svane received his Abitur in 2016, and when asked in 2017 what he plans to do if a career as a professional chess player does not work out he stated he can return to his studies.[6]

## Chess career

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Svane learned to play chess at the age of 4 after discovering a chess CD in a cereal packet.[3] He finished second at the German U12 Chess Championship in 2009,[7] and won the German U14 Chess Championship in 2010.[8] He was named the 2010 U14 Player of the Year by the German Chess Federation in recognition of the latter achievement.[9]

Svane earned his first international master (IM) norm at the 2011 German Chess Championship, scoring 5/9. He earned his second and third IM norms in 2012. The former came at the Politiken Cup held in July–August, where he scored 7½/10; the latter was achieved at the 1st Korbach GM tournament in December, with a score of 7/11. He was officially awarded the title by FIDE in May 2013.[10]

He earned his first grandmaster (GM) norm at the 2015 Aeroflot Open, scoring 4½/9. He earned his second at the 2015 Visma GM tournament, scoring 6/9, and attained the final norm during the 2015/2016 Chess Bundesliga season, scoring 6/10. He was awarded his GM title in September 2016, at age 19.[11]

From 28 October to 6 November 2017, he competed for Germany on board 4 at the European Team Chess Championship, scoring 5½/7 (+5–1=1) for a performance rating of 2762.[12] This was the second-best board 4 performance at the tournament, behind Rauf Mamedov's 2920 performance.[13] From 13 to 25 November, he competed at the World Junior Chess Championship. He placed joint eighth (seventeenth on tiebreak) with a score of 7½/11 (+6–2=3),[14] one point behind the winner Aryan Tari.[15]

From 23 January to 1 February 2018, Svane competed in the Tradewise Gibraltar Masters. He finished forty-first, scoring 6½/10 (+4–1=5),[16] one point behind the winner Levon Aronian.[17][18] From 20 to 28 February, he participated in the Aeroflot Open. He finished forty-seventh out of ninety-two,[19] scoring 4½/9 (+2–2=5).[20] From 17 to 28 March, he competed in the 2018 European Individual Chess Championship. He placed thirty-ninth,[21] scoring 7/11 (+6–3=2).[22] In August, he competed in the Riga Technical University Open. He placed fifth with 7/9 (+5–0=4).[23] Svane represented Germany on the reserve board at the 43rd Chess Olympiad, from 24 September to 5 October. He scored 4½/8 (+3–2=3),[24] as Germany finished 13th.

In 2019, he tied for 2nd-3rd place in the Sunway Sitges Festival with Vasif Durarbayli.[25]

## Notable games

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* Svane vs Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Bundesliga (20 October 2012), Gruenfeld Defense: Exchange. Modern Exchange Variation (D85), 1–0 Svane, in his first Chess Bundesliga game, defeats the former FIDE World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov
* Svane vs Gawain Jones, Bundesliga (2 February 2013), King's Indian Defense: Orthodox Variation. Gligoric-Taimanov System (E92), 1–0 15-year-old Svane defeats the 2641-rated Gawain Jones in 39 moves, sacrificing a rook for a decisive attack in the process
* Alexander Moiseenko vs Svane, Politiken Cup (29 July 2014), Semi-Slav Defense: Accelerated Meran Variation (D45), 0–1 Svane scores his first victory over a 2700+ opponent as he defeats Alexander Moiseenko with the black pieces in 53 moves
* Ernesto Inarkiev vs Svane, Aeroflot Open (4 April 2015), French Defense: Steinitz Variation (C11), 0–1 Svane, as black, defeats the 2706-rated Ernesto Inarkiev in 33 moves
* Svane vs Pentala Harikrishna, Bundesliga (20 November 2016), Catalan Opening: Open Defense (E04), 1–0 Svane defeats the 2762-rated Pentala Harikrishna in 28 moves

## References

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1. ^ a b Mads Boe (29 June 2015). "Rasmus Svane stormester". nyheder.skak.dk. Retrieved 2023-02-12.
2. ^ "PERIOD: SEPTEMBER 2023 – RANK STANDARD RATING GERMANY". FIDE.
3. ^ a b Kürbis, Jens (22 November 2016). "Vom Prinzen zum Titelfavoriten". Lübecker Nachrichten (in German).
4. ^ Staff writer(s) (2018). "Svane, Frederik FIDE Chess Profile". FIDE.
5. ^ Schulz, André (6 December 2017). "Die neue Kaderliste des Deutschen Schachbundes" (in German). ChessBase.
6. ^ Pfleger, Helmut (8 November 2017). "Brettspiel: Schach". Die Zeit (in German).
7. ^ Staff writer(s) (2010). "Spieler des Jahres > 2009, U14, männlich" (in German). Deutsche Schachjugend im Deutschen Schachbund e. V.
8. ^ Staff writer(s) (2011). "Spieler des Jahres > 2010, U14, männlich" (in German). Deutsche Schachjugend im Deutschen Schachbund e. V.
9. ^ Staff writer(s) (2011). "Ergebnisse: Spieler des Jahres - 2010" (in German). Deutsche Schachjugend im Deutschen Schachbund e. V.
10. ^ 2nd quarter Presidential Board Meeting 2013, 4-7 May, Baku, AZE FIDE
11. ^ 87th FIDE Congress 2016, 1-14 September, Baku, Azerbaijan FIDE
12. ^ Staff writer(s) (6 November 2017). "European Team Chess Championship 2017 Open Section". Chess Results.
13. ^ Staff writer(s) (6 November 2017). "European Team Chess Championship 2017 Open Section: The best players per board". Chess Results.
14. ^ Staff writer(s) (25 November 2017). "World Junior under 20 Championship 2017 (150309): Svane Rasmus". Chess Results.
15. ^ Staff writer(s) (25 November 2017). "World Junior under 20 Championship 2017 (150309)". Chess Results.
16. ^ Staff writer(s) (7 February 2018). "Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2018 - Masters: Svane Rasmus". Chess Results.
17. ^ Staff writer(s) (7 February 2018). "Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2018 - Masters". Chess Results.
18. ^ Crowthers, Mark (1 February 2018). "Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival 2018". The Week in Chess.
19. ^ Staff writer(s) (28 February 2018). "Aeroflot Open 2018 A". Chess Results.
20. ^ Staff writer(s) (28 February 2018). "Aeroflot Open 2018 A: Svane Rasmus". Chess Results.
21. ^ Staff writer(s) (28 March 2018). "European Individual Chess Championship 2018". Chess Results.
22. ^ Staff writer(s) (28 March 2018). "European Individual Chess Championship 2018: Svane Rasmus". Chess Results.
23. ^ Schormann, Conrad (18 August 2018). "Riga Tech University Open: Armenians on top". ChessBase.
24. ^ Staff writer(s) (5 October 2018). "43rd Olympiad Batumi 2018 Open". Chess Results.
25. ^ "The Week in Chess 1311". theweekinchess.com. Retrieved 2020-07-09.

## External links

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* Rasmus Svane player profile and games at Chessgames.com
* Rasmus Svane rating card at FIDE