Jeffery Xiong Leading Chess.com Isle of Man International with 2900+ Performance

17-year-old Jeffery Xiong is currently tied for the lead at the star-studded chess.com Isle of Man Chess International Open with 4.5/5. His performance rating after five games is 2939.  To give you an idea of the strength of the event, the American teenager, rated 2656, was ranked  just 29th going into the event. He's now tied for the lead with Abhijeet Gupta (India) and Wang Hao (China). The Americans have a chance for a very big round six. Update: Jeffery pressed for the win in round six vs Wang Hao, but was held to a draw, while Hikaru Nakamura won vs. Gupta, joining Xiong in the lead! In round seven, they will face off. Games added below. In round five Xiong defeated Richard Rapport in a thrilling game, where his quartet of center pawns prevailed over the knight.

[pgn] [Event "Chess.com Isle of Man Masters"] [Site "Villa Marina, Douglas, Isle of"] [Date "2018.10.24"] [White "Rapport, Richard"] [Black "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2725"] [BlackElo "2656"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c3 d5 3. Nf3 e6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. Nbd2 h6 6. Bh4 b6 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 dxe4 9. Ne5 Bb7 10. Bb5 a6 11. Bc6 Bxc6 12. Nxc6 Qc8 13. Qe2 Qb7 14. Ne5 Bd6 15. Nxd7 Kxd7 16. O-O Bf4 17. f3 e3 18. Nc4 Nd5 19. Bxf4 gxf4 20. Ne5+ Ke8 21. Qe1 c5 22. c4 cxd4 23. cxd5 Qxd5 24. Nd3 Qf5 25. Qd1 Ke7 26. Qb3 Rhd8 27. Rfc1 Rac8 28. Rc4 b5 29. Rc2 Kf8 30. Rac1 e5 31. h3 Rxc2 32. Rxc2 Kg7 33. Rc7 Re8 34. Qd5 Re6 35. Nxf4 Rf6 36. Ne2 d3 37. Nc3 Rg6 38. Re7 b4 39. Nb1 e2 40. Qxe5+ Qxe5 41. Rxe5 Rc6 0-1 [/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "Chess.com Isle of Man Masters"] [Site "Villa Marina, Douglas, Isle o"] [Date "2018.10.23"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Gupta, Abhijeet"] [Result "*"] [ECO "A29"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceDate "2018.10.25"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.10.25"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. d3 h6 8. Na4 Bc5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. d4 Bxd4 11. Qxd4 Nc6 12. Qd2 Bf5 13. b3 Re8 14. f3 a6 15. Nc3 b5 16. cxb5 axb5 17. Nxb5 Qb8 18. Nc3 d5 19. Bb2 Qa7+ 20. Kh1 Qe3 21. Rfd1 Qf2 22. Re1 Nb4 23. Nb5 Nc2 24. Bd4 Ne3 25. Bxe3 Rxe3 26. Rf1 Qxe2 27. Qxe2 Rxe2 28. Nd4 * [/pgn]

Play through Xiong's full games so far below.

[pgn] [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.10.25"] [Round "?"] [White "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Black "Wang, Hao"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E05"] [PlyCount "119"] [SourceDate "2018.10.25"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.10.25"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Qxc4 Bc6 10. Bg5 Nbd7 11. Nc3 h6 12. Bxf6 Nxf6 13. b4 Bd5 14. Nxd5 exd5 15. Qb3 c6 16. e3 Ne4 17. Rfc1 Bf6 18. Rab1 Re8 19. b5 axb5 20. axb5 Qd7 21. bxc6 bxc6 22. Rc2 Qd6 23. Rbc1 Reb8 24. Qd3 Rb6 25. Ne1 Ng5 26. Qf5 Ne6 27. Nf3 Rab8 28. h4 Nd8 29. h5 Qe6 30. Bh3 Kf8 31. Kg2 Qxf5 32. Bxf5 Ke7 33. Ra1 Kd6 34. Nh2 Ne6 35. Ra7 R8b7 36. Ra8 Rb8 37. Rxb8 Rxb8 38. Ng4 Rc8 39. Ra2 c5 40. Ra6+ Rc6 41. dxc5+ Nxc5 42. Rxc6+ Kxc6 43. Nxf6 gxf6 44. f4 Kd6 45. g4 Ne6 46. Kf3 Ng7 47. Bc8 Ke7 48. Bb7 f5 49. g5 Nxh5 50. gxh6 Kf6 51. Bxd5 Kg6 52. h7 Kxh7 53. Bxf7 Nf6 54. Ke2 Kg7 55. Be6 Ne4 56. Bd7 Kf6 57. Bc6 Ng3+ 58. Kd3 Nh5 59. Kd4 Ng7 60. Kd5 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "Chess.com Isle of Man Masters"] [Site "Villa Marina, Douglas, Isle of"] [Date "2018.10.23"] [White "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2656"] [BlackElo "2780"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 a6 6. Bxd7+ Bxd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. Qd3 Rc8 9. O-O Qc7 10. Rd1 Be6 11. a4 Nf6 12. Nd2 Be7 13. Nf1 Qc4 14. Ne3 Qxd3 15. Rxd3 Kd7 16. f3 Rc6 17. Bd2 Rhc8 18. b3 Nh5 19. g3 Bd8 20. a5 b5 21. Na2 Nf6 22. Nb4 R6c7 23. Nxa6 Ra7 24. Nb4 Rxa5 25. Rd1 Raa8 26. Be1 Be7 27. Kg2 g6 28. Bf2 Ke8 29. Kf1 Bd8 30. Be1 Bb6 31. Ke2 Bc5 32. Bc3 h5 33. h4 Ra7 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "Chess.com Isle of Man Masters"] [Site "Villa Marina, Douglas, Isle of"] [Date "2018.10.22"] [White "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Black "Vishnu, Prasanna. V"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B46"] [WhiteElo "2656"] [BlackElo "2504"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8. O-O Qc7 9. Re1 Bb7 10. e5 c5 11. b3 Ne7 12. Na4 Nc6 13. Bf4 h5 14. c3 Be7 15. Qe2 Kf8 16. Rac1 h4 17. h3 g6 18. Qe3 Nb8 19. Bg5 Bxg5 20. Qxg5 Nd7 21. b4 Rh5 22. Qf4 Rxe5 23. Qh6+ Ke7 24. Nxc5 Nxc5 25. bxc5 g5 26. Qg7 Rxe1+ 27. Rxe1 Qf4 28. Rb1 Bc6 29. Rb6 Kd7 30. Rb4 Qc1+ 31. Kh2 Ke7 32. Qe5 Bb5 33. a4 Bd7 34. Rb7 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "Chess.com Isle of Man Masters"] [Site "Villa Marina, Douglas, Isle of"] [Date "2018.10.21"] [White "Batsiashvili, Nino"] [Black "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D40"] [WhiteElo "2482"] [BlackElo "2656"] [PlyCount "62"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. e3 e6 5. d4 d5 6. a3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 a6 8. O-O b5 9. Ba2 Bb7 10. Qe2 Be7 11. Rd1 Qc7 12. d5 exd5 13. Nxd5 Nxd5 14. Bxd5 O-O 15. e4 Rad8 16. g3 Na5 17. Bf4 Qb6 18. Rac1 c4 19. Nd4 Bxd5 20. exd5 Bf6 21. Nf5 Nb3 22. Rc2 Rfe8 23. Qg4 g6 24. Nh6+ Kf8 25. Be3 Qb7 26. d6 Re6 27. Nf5 h5 28. Bh6+ Kg8 29. Ne7+ Kh7 30. Qf4 Nd4 31. g4 hxg4 0-1[/pgn]

[pgn] [Event "Chess.com Isle of Man Masters"] [Site "Villa Marina, Douglas, Isle of"] [Date "2018.10.20"] [White "Xiong, Jeffery"] [Black "Karavade, Eesha"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2656"] [BlackElo "2374"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. Nf3 Bxc5 6. a3 Ne7 7. Bd3 Ng6 8. O-O O-O 9. Ng5 Be7 10. Qh5 Bxg5 11. Bxg5 Qc7 12. Nc3 Nc6 13. f4 Nd4 14. Rae1 h6 15. Bf6 gxf6 16. exf6 Nf5 17. Bxf5 exf5 18. Nxd5 Qc5+ 19. Re3 Rd8 20. Qxh6 Qf8 21. Ne7+ 1-0[/pgn]

Two members of our silver-medal Olympic team, Wesley So (3.5/5) and the aforementioned Nakamura (4/5), are also playing in the IOM International. Other strong American Grandmasters playing include Robert Hess (3/5), Sam Sevian (3/5), Gregory Kaidanov (3.5/5) and James Tarjan (3/5). Find and follow full standings on chessresults.com. Watch round six of the Isle of Man Chess International live starting at 8:30 AM ET, featuring commentary from GM Danny King, IM Anna Rudolf and WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni.