Wesley So

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Wesley So

Full name	Wesley Barbasa So
Country	Philippines
Born	October 9, 1993 (1993-10-09) (age 14) Manila, Philippines

Title	Grandmaster (GM)


FIDE rating	2540
Peak rating	2540 (April 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. The previous youngest Filipino IM had been GM Mark Paragua at 14 years and 8 months.

1 Early life
2 Chess career
3 Results
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] 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 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."

So currently goes to school at St. Francis of Assisi College System in Bacoor, Cavite, a province south of Manila.^[2]

[edit] 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. So won the gold medal on board one at the 2007 World Under 16 Team Championship with a score of 9½/10.

On the October 2007 FIDE rating list, he was considered to be the world's strongest chess player in for his age group (players born in 1993 and later) with an ELO rating of 2531 ahead of Chinese WGM Hou Yifan (born 1994, ELO 2502) and Indian GM Parimarjan Negi (born 1993, ELO 2514).

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.

Come the April 2008 FIDE rating list, GM So's rating was 2540 making him the highest ranked chess player in the Philippines ahead of other notable Filipino Grandmasters such as Mark Paragua, Bong Villamayor, Nelson Mariano and Darwin Laylo.^[4]

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.^[5]^[6] 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.^[7]

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.^[8]

[edit] Results

Date	Tournament	Location	Place	Score		Notes
May 2008	1st Subic Bay International Open Chess Championship	Subic, Philippines	2nd	6.5	9
May 2008	2nd Philippine Open International Chess Tournament ^[9]	Subic, Philippines	10th / 73	7.5	11
Apr/May 2008	2008 Philippine "Battle of Grandmasters"^[10]	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^[11]	Dubai, UAE	1	7	9
Mar 2008	Mayor Allen Singson Open Chess Tourney^[12]	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.