It wasn’t a safe day to be a super GM, but Maxime Vachier-Lagrave played a convincing game. | 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 Mamedyarov played against him in blitz in St. Louis this year.