Wesley So
Wesley So | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Full name | Wesley Barbasa So |
| Country |  Philippines |
| Title | Grandmaster (GM) |
| FIDE rating | 2610 |
| Peak rating | 2610 (October 2008) |
Wesley So (born October 9, 1993) is a Filipino GM-titled chess player. He achieved the GM title at the age of 14 years, 1 month and 28 days. This puts him as the 7th youngest person to achieve the Grandmaster title in the history of chess.[1] Before becoming a Grandmaster, So had become the youngest Filipino International Master at the age of 12 years and 10 months.
Early life
So was born in Manila in 1993 to William and Eleanor So, who are both accountants. He was aged 6 when his father taught him to play chess and was 9 when he started to compete in junior active chess tournaments where his aggressive and tactical style of play caught the attention of former Philippine chess champion IM Rodolfo Tan Cardoso. Cardoso said, "The young lad... would sacrifice a queen or any other pieces in his arsenal to get a winning attack." Also according to Cardoso, So did not have the full sponsorships enjoyed by the other chess prodigies, saying "He cannot afford a decent training given by well known GM-coaches and has to rely on his pure talent, diligence and, of course, the Fritz programs before competing."
Wesley currently goes to school at St. Francis of Assisi College System in Bacoor, Cavite, a province south of Manila.[2]
Chess career
In 2006, he became the youngest member of the national men's team to participate at the 37th Chess Olympiad in Turin, Italy at the age of 12. In December of the same year, he also became the youngest National Open Chess Champion. In May 2007, he went on to become the youngest National Junior Open Chess Champion. Wesley won the gold medal on board one at the 2007 World Under 16 Team Championship with a score of 9½/10.
Wesley So achieved his third and final Grandmaster norm on December 8, 2007 at the third Pichay Cup International Open (Manila, Philippines), thus becoming the youngest Filipino Grandmaster at the age of 14.[3] He also became the seventh youngest to achieve the Grandmaster title in the history of chess, edging out French GM Etienne Bacrot from that spot by a few days. So got his first GM norm in the Offene Internationale Bayerische Schach Meisterschaft in Bad Wiessee, Germany and his second GM norm in the 2007 U-20 World Junior Chess Championship in Yerevan, Armenia. Since December 2007, Wesley So has been considered to be the world's youngest Grandmaster at the age of fourteen.
On April 16, 2008, Wesley So, won the title in the $45,000 Dubai Open Chess Championships, "The Sheikh Rashed Bin Hamdan Al Maktoum Cup", at the Dubai Chess Club, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and setting a record as the youngest winner in the 10-year history of the Cup. He finished with 7 points on six wins, one loss and two draws after nine games. He won one-fourth ($4,500) of the combined prize of $18,000.[4][5] GM So also placed third at the sidelight Blitz Tournament of the Dubai Open Chess Championships held during the rest day of the main open tournament.
The Philippines' top gun then proceeded to Jakarta, Indonesia where he battled Indonesia's Number 1 GM Susanto Megaranto 4-2 (three wins, two draws and one loss) in a six-game match on the occasion of the JAPFA Chess Festival.[6]
On May 5, 2008, So won the top prize of P 200,000, in the “Battle of GMs” chess competition by notching 8½ points, on six wins and five draws, at the Citystate Hotel, Manila. One point ahead of second placer Eugene Torre, and Richard Bitoon, So agreed to split the point with three-time national junior champion Jon Paul Gomez in 30 moves of the French Defence.[7]
On the October 2008 FIDE rating list, GM So's ELO rating was 2610 making him the highest ranked chess player in the Philippines ahead of other notable Filipino Grandmasters such as Mark Paragua, Rogelio Antonio, Jr. and Eugenio Torre (who is second with 2560 ELO rating). He is rated the world's strongest chess player for his age level (players born in 1993 and later) with an ELO rating of 2610 ahead of Chinese WGM Hou Yifan (born 1994, ELO 2557) and strong-rising Russian IM Sanan Sjugirov(born 1993, ELO 2545). The latest ratings put Wesley So on the 11th spot of the world top 20 juniors list. Another notable junior player will be 1992-born Fabiano Caruana of Italy who is currently ranked 5th in the top juniors with an ELO of 2630.
Wesley So has been performing around 2700 performance rating in his recent tournaments, and that kind of level indicates that he has a potential to be a world chess champion.
In the modern era, computers and internet has made the game global and has spawned incredibly strong young chess players such as 17 year old Magnus Carlsen and Serjey Karjakin. Carlsen of Norway, in particular has been performing over 2850, indicating that he has a chance to surpass Kasparov as strongest ever player.
Results
| Date | Tournament | Location | Place | Score | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2008 | 2008 World Chess Olympiad Qualifier | Mandaluyong, Philippines | 2nd | 12.5 | 17 | |
| May 2008 | 1st Subic Bay International Open Chess Championship | Subic, Philippines | 2nd | 6.5 | 9 | |
| May 2008 | 2nd Philippine Open International Chess Tournament [8] | Subic, Philippines | 10th / 73 | 7.5 | 11 | |
| Apr/May 2008 | 2008 Philippine "Battle of Grandmasters"[9] | Manila, Philippines | 1 | 8.5 | 11 | |
| Apr 2008 | 2008 Japfa Chess Festival 2008 vs GM Susanto Megaranto of Indonesia | Jakarta, Indonesia | 1 | 4 | 6 | Six games Fide rated one-on-one duel |
| Apr 2008 | 2008 Dubai Open Blitz Tournament | Dubai, UAE | 3 | 7 | 9 | |
| Apr 2008 | 10th Dubai Chess Championship[10] | Dubai, UAE | 1 | 7 | 9 | |
| Mar 2008 | Mayor Allen Singson Open Chess Tourney[11] | Candon City, Philippines | 1 | 6 | 7 | |
| Jan 2008 | "GM Tournament A" ASEAN Masters Chess Circuit | Tarakan, Indonesia | 4 | |||
| Dec 2007 | Fianchetto Realty/Gold Edge Assets Christmas Invitational Tournament | Prince Gregory Condominium, Cubao, Quezon City | 1 | (GM-IM blitz category) | ||
| Dec 2007 | 2007 Pichay Cup International Chess Tournament | Earned his final GM norm, became the 7th youngest Grandmaster in world history and the youngest ever Filipino Grandmaster. | ||||
| Nov 2007 | 2007 GMA Cup International Chess Tournament | 9th / 64 | ||||
| Oct 2007 | World Junior Chess Championship | Earned his 2nd GM norm | ||||
| 18-20 Jun 2007 | Shell Battle of Champions, 15th Anniversary | Megamall, Ortigas | 1 | |||
| 06-09 May 2007 | National Juniors Open Chess Championship | Marketplace, Kalentong | 1 | |||
| 25-31 Dec 2006 | 3rd Singapore Masters International Open | Singapore | Tied for 4th place | Rank 14 (99 players) | ||
| Dec 2006 | National Open Chess Championship | SM Manila | 1 | |||
| 2006 Nov 17-23 | 1st President GMA Cup International Chess Tournament | Paranaque, Manila | Tied for 6th place | Award: Top Juniors, 3rd | ||
| 2006 Nov 04-12 | Offene Internationale Bayerische Schaha Meisterschaft | Bad Wiessee, Germany | Tied for 2nd place | Award: Earned first GM norm. Creativity Award: chosen by Russian website e3e5. | ||
| 2006 Oct 20-28 | III Festival de Ajedrez Open Internacionale | Calvia, Spain | Award: Best Under-16, Blitz. | |||
| 2006 Oct 08 | Title awarded by FIDE: International Master | |||||
| 2006 Aug 20-28 | 3rd IGB Dato Arthur Tan Malaysia Open Chess Championship | Kuala Lumpur | Award: Best Under 16 player. Earned 3rd IM norm. | |||
| 2006 Jun 05-11 | 2nd San Marino Open Internationale de Scacchi | San Marino Republic | Award: Best Under 16 player. Earned 2nd IM norm. | |||
| 2006 May20-Jun04 | 37th Chess Olympiad | Torino, Italy | Youngest RP Olympian. | |||
| 2006 Apr22-May02 | 8th Dubai Open Chess Championship, Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamadan Ak Maktoum Cup | Dubai, UAE | Earned 1st IM norm. | |||
| 2005 Dec 26-30 | Masters/Challengers Intl Open | Singapore | Finished 32nd individual | Award: Best Under 12 player. | ||
| 2005 Aug 01-06 | Nice Open International | Nice | Finished 9th | |||
| 2005 Jul 18-29 | World Youth Chess Championship | Belfort, France | Equal first | |||
| 2005 June 14-20 | 7th Asean Age-Group Chess Championship | Pattaya, Thailand | Individual Awards: Gold Medallist, Standard Chess; Gold Medallist, Rapid Chess; Gold Medallist, Blitz Chess. | |||
| 2004 Dec 01-08 | World Youth Chess Championship | Crete | Finished: 13th. | |||
| 2004 Sep 02-12 | 6th Asean Age-Group Chess Championship | Vung Tau, Vietnam | Individual Awards: Gold Medallist, Standard Chess; Gold Medallist, Rapid Chess.
Team Awards: Silver Medallist, Standard Chess, Silver Medallist Rapid Chess. | |||
| 2003 Nov 03-10 | World Youth Chess Championship | Heraklio, Greece | Finished: 19th. | |||
See also
References
- ^ GmaNews.Tv, So is now RP's youngest GM, world's 7th youngest
- ^ Luarca, Roy (2008-04-16). "Brilliant Wesley So tops tough Dubai Open - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos". Inquirer.net. Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on 2008-05-06. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
So, an incoming junior at St. Francis of Assisi College System-Bacoor, swept his first five foes....
{{cite web}}: More than one of|author=and|last=specified (help) - ^ So newest, youngest GM from Manila Standard Today
- ^ manilastandardtoday.com, So wins Dubai Open, $4.5k
- ^ gulfnews.com, World's youngest GM So wins Dubai Open
- ^ The chess games of Wesley So
- ^ ABS-CBN Interactive, So wins ‘Battle of GMs’ title
- ^ 2nd Philippine Open International Chess Tournament
- ^ Clash of Philippines' best chess players
- ^ GM Wesley So in $45,000 Dubai Chess 2008
- ^ GM Wesley So to join and hold simul games - Allen Singson Chess
- Wesley So rating card at FIDE
- Wesley So player profile and games at Chessgames.com Latest updates at chessgames.com
- Wesley So: The Next Pinoy Superstar Rooty Hill RSL Chess Club
- World's Youngest GM – GM Wesley So, age 14 ChessBase.com