"Ctrl + Enter" should work...

Shortcuts

• for Windows and Linux: ALT + ENTER
• for Mac:
  • open in new background tab: CMD + ENTER
  • open in new tab: CMD + SHIFT + ENTER

Usage

You could use it the following ways:

1. Highlight link: TAB
2. Open link in new tab: ALT + ENTER [Windows/Linux], CMD + ENTER (+ SHIFT) [Mac]

or

1. Jumb to address bar: STRG + L [Windows/Linux], CMD + L [Mac]

2. Type in url or search term

3. Open in new tab: ALT + ENTER [Windows/Linux], CMD + ENTER (+ SHIFT) [Mac]

Source

Here you can find all Google Chrome Keyboard Shortcuts. Some of them are pretty useful.

Ctrl + Enter to open a link in a new tab and stay on the current tab

Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open a link in a new tab and go to the new tab

Type in your search query and then use the shift+ to navigate through the search results. You would see an arrow appear near the links when you move through them. To open a link, hit enter. ctrl+entr would open it in a new tab.

It would be great if there was a keyboard shortcut to open the first link directly in a new tab, something like shift+1. I have not found anything of that sort till now.

1. Type your query in the search box.
2. Press ENTER
3. When the results page appears, press Tab once.
4. You should be able to see an arrow pointing towards the first link.
5. You can move to other links using Up and Down arrows.
6. Go to the link you want and press Ctrl+Enter to open in a new tab or just Enter to open in the same tab. You can use Shift+Enter to open it in a new window.