Jonas Lampert

Overview

Jonas Lampert is a German chess Grandmaster born on August 25, 1997, in Hamburg, Germany. He represented the Swiss Chess Federation (SSB) until 2008 before transferring to the German Chess Federation (GER). Lampert was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 2014 and achieved the Grandmaster (GM) title in 2020. He reached his career-high classical FIDE rating of 2550 in December 2018. Primarily active as a tournament competitor, Bundesliga team player, and opening theorist, Lampert has authored several instructional works for major training platforms.

Biography & Major Career Milestones

Jonas Lampert began learning chess at age seven and regularly competed in German youth championships starting at the U10 level. His first major junior success came in 2013 when he won the German U16 Individual Championship. The following year, in 2014, he earned the International Master title.

In December 2015, Lampert tied for first place at the 25th Erfurt Chess Festival, finishing second on tiebreak behind GM Boris Chatalbashev with a score of 6.5/8. He achieved a major milestone in 2017 at the Isle of Man International (Super-Open), where he held former World Champion Viswanathan Anand to a draw in the second round.

Lampert completed his Grandmaster title requirements through three norms:

• His second GM norm was achieved in early 2018 with a tournament victory at the Staufer-Open in Schwäbisch Gmünd.
• His third and final GM norm was secured in August 2020 at the 23rd Vasja Pirc Memorial in Maribor, Slovenia. He won the tournament outright with 7 points from 9 games, recording a 2633 performance rating.

FIDE officially ratified his Grandmaster title in October 2020. Outside of competitive chess, Lampert studied law, passed his first state examination, and works as a lawyer.

Elite Team & Event Performance

• German Chess Bundesliga: Lampert is a long-time member of the Hamburger SK (Hamburger Schachklub von 1830 e.V.). He has represented the club's first team across numerous Bundesliga seasons, including 2013/14, 2014/15, 2016/17, 2018/19, 2022/23, 2023/24, and 2024/25, consistently serving as a solid anchor on the middle and upper boards.
• PRO Chess League: Represented professional online team franchises during the league's active seasons.

Playing Style, Material Tendencies & Endgame Profiling

Lampert is characterized by a classical and positionally robust playing style. He relies on exceptional structural awareness and deep home preparation, making him highly resilient and difficult to defeat in symmetrical or semi-open structures.

He maintains strict king safety during the middlegame but is notable for his active king deployment in technical endings. Within German Bundesliga circles, his active endgame king marches were humorously popularized as the "Lampert Walk," stemming from a notable king-led conversion in his game against Felix Levin during the 2016/17 season.

Lampert possesses refined endgame technical skills, particularly in rook-and-pawn endings and Carlsbad pawn structures. His expertise has led to appearances as a guest analyst on ChessBase media (such as "Endgame Magic" with GM Karsten Müller) and roles in checking complex tactical and endgame training exercises for publications like The Human Factor in Chess – The Testbook.

Opening Repertoire & Theoretical Move Orders

Lampert is a recognized opening theoretician who has published instructional databases and video series for both ChessBase and chessemy.

1. As White

Lampert's primary first move is 1.d4.

His main specialization is the Carlsbad pawn structure arising from the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined (QGD), on which he published a comprehensive white repertoire:

Against the Slav Defence, he consistently steers toward strategic main lines to squeeze a small positional edge:

2. As Black

Against 1.e4, Lampert's primary defensive weapon is the highly theoretical and solid Petroff (Russian) Defence. He authored the comprehensive repertoire course Robustes Russisch, using setups inspired by Fabiano Caruana's world-class systems to neutralize White's central initiative:

Against 1.d4, Lampert relies heavily on the Slav Defence, prioritizing early structural stability and piece activity:

Links

• FIDE: https://ratings.fide.com/profile/1303759
• Wikipedia: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Lampert