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Chess.com Isle Of Man: MVL In Lead Group With Perfect Score

It wasn't a safe day to be a super GM, but Maxime Vachier-Lagrave played a convincing game. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.
_{Norwegian Aryan Tari resigns to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the third round. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com}

Written by Mike Klein | Read the full report at https://www.chess.com/news/view/mvl-leads-list-of-6-perfect-scores-remaining-after-isle-of-man-rd-3

While other world top-10s have had their struggles at the 2018 Chess.com Isle of Man International, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave keeps making it look easy through three rounds. Even a birthday celebration couldn't stop his lucid play. He's faring just as well as a 28-year-old as he did at 27.

The top French player of all time leads the pack of a half-dozen GMs on 3.0/3. He was also the first to get to that score by switching to 1.d4, as he expected a Grunfeld, where he has no shortage of knowledge. When that didn't come, he said he borrowed an idea that GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarovplayed against him in blitz in St. Louis this year.

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FIDE Grand Swiss: Round 11 report

Published: 06 Nov 2023

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FIDE Grand Swiss: Round 10 Report

Published: 05 Nov 2023

Round 10 Report

John Saunders reports: round 10, the penultimate round of the 2023 FIDE Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss, was a remarkable feast of chess as the top seven boards in the open tournament ended decisively, while six of the ten top boards in the Women’s Grand Swiss ended similarly. At the end of the round, Hikaru Nakamura, Vidit Gujrathi and Andrey Esipenko lead the FIDE Grand Swiss on 7½/10, while three further players, Arjun Erigaisi, Alexandr Predke and Vincent Keymer are tucked in behind the leaders on 7, with everything to play for in the final round. In the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss, Rameshbabu Vaishali remains the sole leader on 8/10, Anna Muzychuk is on 7½, and Batkhuyag Munguntuul is on 7. The fact that Anna Muzychuk is already qualified for the 2024 Women’s Candidates’ Tournament in Toronto next April means that Rameshbabu Vaishali knows she too is now certain of one of the two qualification spots for the same event as only one player can now reach her score.

FIDE Grand Swiss: Round 9 Report

Published: 04 Nov 2023

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John Saunders reports: Round nine of the FIDE Grand Swiss, played at the Villa Marina, Douglas, Isle of Man on 3 November 2023, saw the group of leaders increase from four to six. Those six are Fabiano Caruana, Bogdan-Daniel Deac, Vidit Gujrathi, Andrey Esipenko, Hikaru Nakamura (who beat Ivan Cheparinov) and Parham Maghsoodloo (who beat Alexey Sarana). They have 6½/9, with a further six players half a point behind them: Alexandr Predke, Yuriy Kuzubov, Arjun Erigaisi, Vincent Keymer, Samuel Sevian and Vladimir Fedoseev on 6. The FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss now has a sole leader, Rameshbabu Vaishali, who beat Antoaneta Stefanova, and leads on 7/9, with Tan Zhongyi and Anna Muzychuk trailing her on 6½. Two rounds remain. Round 10 is scheduled for the normal time of 1430 GMT on Saturday 4 November.